


My Guardian

by DeadDahlia



Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Action & Romance, F/M, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-12
Updated: 2014-07-07
Packaged: 2018-01-15 10:31:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 41,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1301644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeadDahlia/pseuds/DeadDahlia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where hope is hard to come by, Daryl Dixon finds his light at the end of the tunnel in Beth Greene. This story is for all Bethyl and Deth Shippers, who are fans of the pairing of Daryl Dixon and Beth Greene. </p><p>As Daryl rises to the occasion and becomes a leader at the prison, his connection with Beth grows from friends to something much more. It captures the naive innocence of Beth who is now coming into her own as a woman finally, and our favorite crossbow carrying redneck, Daryl Dixon; who will finally learn what it means to be in love. To need somebody wholly and completely with all your body and soul. </p><p>Because "once Daryl Dixon falls in love ... it is forever" ~ Norman Reedus</p><p>Note: “My Guardian” is the companion fanfic to the much darker and twisted tale of “Maggie’s Nightmare," which catches up with the group at the prison about 9 months after the attack on the prison. Includes Glenn, Maggie, The Governor, Daryl, Beth and a few OC's.  So, you can all expect that Daryl and Beth will have obstacles and struggle to be together in a world where The Governor is completely demented and ready to exact his revenge on our favorite characters of TWD.</p><p>xoxo,<br/>Dahlia</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. My Guardian: Chapter One

**Welcome Y'all ;-D**

For all you Bethyl/Deth shippers, I know you're going to love this story! It follows a natural progression for Bethyl, bringing Daryl and Beth closer - taking them from friends, to more than friends and eventually to lovers. Just a heads up, it takes some time for them to get together, since I wanted it to feel very natural; however, please don't worry ... **it's going to get juicy - promise :-D  
**

**Now to our story ... enjoy!**

**oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

**Daryl’s POV – The day the townsfolk of Woodbury arrive at the prison**  
  
I stood next to Rick and watched as everybody shuffled off the buses. I watched as Carol helped an elderly woman step off the bus and escorted her inside the prison. One after another they walked off the buses. Mostly elderly men and women, some people looked sick or had injuries, and kids; there were quite a few kids. I just kept thinking to myself that it had been hard to survive and keep our small group alive; I wondered if we had made the right decision by taking these people in.  
  
“Sure we made the right decision, Rick? Looks like a lot of responsibility and extra mouths to feed keep stepping off these buses.”  
  
Rick looked over at me; his facial expressions said it all. He looked just as uncertain as I did.  
  
“I know Daryl. But, we couldn’t just leave em,’ now could we?”

“I know. I know. I agree with ya. Just worried about how we’re gonna make this all work. That’s all”

“Yep … we’re gonna have to figure this out as we go. But, I do believe that we cannot survive in this world without people. Not anymore.”

I exhaled deeply, holding tight to the grip of my crossbow that slung across my shoulder.

“Hmm. Well, guess we better figure out where all these people are gonna sleep tonight. Then, we can work out the details.”  
  
“Thanks, Daryl. Sounds good. Can you please get everyone together in the common area? I’m gonna be in there in a minute; gonna talk to everyone as a group. I’m going to talk to them a bit, but I would like it if you could help me in answering their questions – they’re gonna have a lot, and I think it’s best if we both are able to take the lead here. Alright with you?”  
  
“Sure. No problem, Rick. Jus let me know.”  
  
“Alright then, let’s get em inside and try and get em settled.”  
  
Rick nodded and crossed his arms. He looked deep in thought. I was jus glad I wasn’t the only one worried about how we were going to take care of all these folks.  
  
 **ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**  
  
Maggie, Glenn, Beth and Carol made sure to usher all of the townsfolk into the main common area of our cell block. Like a refugee camp, people were scattered around the floors, sat on tables, with their belongings strewn across the ground beside them. Their whole lives packed into a few bags now. This was much different than what they were accustomed to. I could tell by the looks of their faces they hadn’t seen the worst of this new world from the shelter behind the walls of Woodbury.  
  
Glenn and Maggie were seated at a table near the entrance to the cell block, so I walked over to stand next to them.  
  
“They look a bit hopeless, don’t they?” Glenn interjected.  
  
Maggie slapped him on the arm.  
  
“Glenn … give em a break. They’ve been pretty sheltered. It’s gonna take em a while for them to get used to the prison.”  
  
“Yeah, I guess. Just thought they’d be a little more excited that they were safe here. Like it was for us.”  
  
“Well, they aren’t coming from being on the run for seven months now are they?  
  
“Guess not. What do you think, Daryl?”  
  
Glenn looked up at me for my take on the situation.  
  
“Yeah. This is gonna be a change for us all, I think.”  
  
I ran my hands through my hair and rubbed the back of my neck. I looked out at the large group of people that sat before me.  
  
“Well … what do you mean? I mean, besides there being more people here, what other changes do you think we can expect?”  
  
“It took a lot to take care of this group. Water. Food. Not just keeping everyone safe from walkers. I look out and I see a lot more mouths to feed.”  
  
Glenn looked down at the table and considered what I said. He looked over at Maggie; the concern began to build in his eyes.He looked back at me.  
  
I nodded my head. “Yeah. Exactly. More mouths to feed. More responsibility for me and you. More supply runs. We’re jus gonna need a lot more of everything.”  
  
Glenn exhaled slowly; taking in my words. He knew what this meant. A lot of the supply runs had relied heavily and him and me. And, a lot of the hunting for meat, pretty much feel completely on my shoulders. So, he was finally starting to get it. Although, we couldn’t just leave them there, by taking them in, we put ourselves in a position where a lot of innocent and fairly helpless people were counting on us to survive now.  
  
 **ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**  
  
 **Beth’s POV –**  
  
“Dad?”  
  
“Yes, dear?”  
  
“Think it’s over? I mean everything with … you know who.”  
  
My father smiled and put his arm around me, pulling me in close for a quick hug.  
  
“I can’t answer that, Beth. I think the only thing we can do now is focus on creating a life here as best as can. Rebuild. Focus on how we’re all gonna get along here.”  
  
“Yeah. I guess so. We definitely have a lot more people here.”  
  
“Sure do.” He nodded and looked down at his hands, which he was anxiously rubbing together.  
  
“Everything okay, Dad?”  
  
“Just hope we know what were getting ourselves into here.”  
  
“Yeah, me too.”  
  
I looked over at Daryl, Glenn and Maggie; they sat across the room. Carol, Carol and Michonne all sat together at a table with the Tyrese and Sasha. Everyone seemed to have a look of concern. Guess no one really knew what to expect now. Certainly not all of these new people from Woodbury; they looked pretty upset by the whole thing and they didn’t even know the worst of the story.  
  
“To be honest, Dad … do we even know if we can trust them?”  
  
“Don’t know, Beth. But, I trust Rick. Plus, we couldn’t very well leave them behind; it wouldn’t be right. We have a responsibility to each other to take care of one another; even if things in this world have changed – that should be something that never does. Ya understand?”  
  
“Of course, Dad. I know exactly what you mean.”

I smiled at him and winked. I just kept thinking to myself what a wonderful man my father was. He was a moral man, a loving man and a generous man. He had shown that over and over again in his life and I would always appreciate that about him. Before we could continue our conversation, Rick walked into the room. He stood up front on a table, so that everyone could see and hear him.  
  
“For any of you that don’t know, I’m Rick Grimes. Now, I know many of you are tired and have a lot of questions, which I will be happy to answer for you and then we can get you all settled into your new living quarters as soon as we can. For tonight, we’re all gonna bunk here in this cell block until we can fortify one or two more of the adjacent cell blocks.”  
  
Rick nodded over to the table where Maggie, Glenn and Daryl were sitting. Daryl got up and walked up over to Rick; he jumped up on the table and stood beside him.  
  
“Some of you may know Daryl, from some of the events that took place at Woodbury. His brother Merle Dixon was with you all at Woodbury. I’ve asked him to come up and help me in answering any of your questions.”  
  
Daryl stood up there with his arms crossed; he nodded his head to the crowd at his introduction.  
  
“Well, it’s an open forum, so if any of y’all have any questions …”  
  
There was a moment of silence before a man in the crowd stood up. His wife sat beside him.  
  
“Well, I guess I’ll ask the obvious question … what the _hell_ happened? Where’s The Governor? Can you enlighten us, Rick?”  
  
I watched as Rick and Daryl stood up on that table and answered all of their questions; trying to shed some light as to what really happened and what The Governor had been responsible for. He told them about the torture of Glenn and Maggie and the attempt on Michonne’s life. Daryl and Rick basically tried their best to really clarify everything for them. The Governor had sheltered them from so much and fed them so many lies; it took a while to sort it all out.

However, they seemed most upset about learning about how The Governor killed all of those innocent people just because they refused to go back and fight us. Rick finally asked Karen, the one soldier who survived the attack, to go into more detail about what happened. I could tell her story had everyone reeling; there were gasps and ‘Oh, no’s!’ being exchanged between them. I wasn’t shocked at all though. After what he did with Maggie, Glenn and Michonne and for waging an all out war with us for no good reason; nothing he did really surprised me. I might be young, but I certainly wasn’t naive. He was a monster, through and through.

After about an hour, Rick called our core group up to the front. He introduced us all to the people of Woodbury.  
  
“This here’s my son, Carl. He grabbed Carl around the shoulder protectively. Carl just looked up at his dad, and then stared coldly out at the group of people.  
  
“And, my baby girl, Judith, is asleep right now in one of the cells.” He laughed. “I’m sure y’all will meet her soon enough.”  
  
“Over here is Hershel and his daughters Maggie and Beth. Next to Maggie is her fiancé, Glenn.” Hershel said hello, while Maggie lifted her arm and gave a quick smile and waved.  
  
”To my left is Carol, and over here is Michonne.” Both women nodded, Carol gave a quiet ‘hello.’

Rick paused and looked around at his group, or what was left of it. He smiled at us.  
  
“I hope we can all get to know one another, and if you need anything or have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.”  
  
Rick motioned for Daryl to come over and whispered something in his ear. Daryl nodded in agreement.  
  
“Alright, folks. I think that’s enough for today. Let’s get you all settled in for tonight, and we’ll plan on figuring out permanent sleeping arrangements tomorrow.”  
  
Daryl walked over to where me, Maggie, Glenn and my Dad were standing.  
  
“Rick asked if I would help secure the adjacent cell blocks with him. Glenn, Maggie … we’ll need your help to make sure we got the cell blocks cleared and locked down. Alright?”  
  
Glenn and Maggie nodded and started to walk off, but I grabbed a hold of Daryl’s arm. He swung around and looked at me.  
  
“What’d ya need Beth?”  
  
“Well, I was just wondering what the rest of should be doin’.”  
  
Daryl smiled a bit.  
  
“Try and get these people a place to sleep for tonight. There’s not enough beds for everyone, so if you can get the older people and the children to the beds and get the rest of the situated for the night, that’d be great.”  
  
“Oh, sure. No problem. Carol and I will get em’ settled.”  
  
“Thanks, Beth.”  
  
He winked at me and walked off with Maggie and Glenn. I continued to watch as they walked away. I caught myself smiling, when I caught sight of the angel wings on Daryl’s vest. He really was an angel, I thought to myself. He’d kept us safe and saved my family many times, and I’d always be grateful for that.  
  
“He’s a good man.”  
  
“What?"

“Daryl, he’s a good man. Ya know, he didn’t always know it, but he’s one of the best of us.”

“Yeah, he is, isn’t he?”  
  
I smiled. He was right. Daryl had proven himself to be not only brave but loyal and self-less. He was much more than where he came from. And, I had always admired and respected Daryl. It was more than that; I loved him; I loved our entire group – they were all my family now. But, I found myself feeling something else too, which kind of confused me. I missed him when he left. It was weird; something I hadn’t experienced before.  
  
I had quite a bit of work to do getting everyone settled in. Plus, I still had Judith to take care of. So, I just shrugged it off and looked back over to my Dad who sat there just smiling back at me. He patted me on the shoulder.  
  
“Well, Beth, sweetheart … looks like you got some work to do. Better get to it.”  
  
I gave him a hug and walked over to Carol to discuss how we were going to get this group settled for the night.  
  
 **END CHAPTER ONE**  
  
 **ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

So, what did you think? **Like it, love it, hate it?** I'd love to hear what you think :-D  
  
Although Daryl and Beth might not be an obvious couple, I feel that they are both really innocent. You definitely get the impression that Daryl isn't very experienced with women, he's emotionally immature when it comes to relationships. Whereas Beth is young, but she's had to grow up fast during the last year during this Zombie Apocalypse. Both of them are a bit innocent when it comes to the opposite sex, and they have shared so much together. Looking forward to developing their fast courtship and describing how they interact together as they face off against the living and the dead together ...  
  
So, thank you for reading so far ... I hope you will continue to follow along with the story.  
  
And, as always, please review and comment on this story on your way out. You know I love to hear from you :-D  
  
xoxo,  
Dahlia


	2. My Guardian: Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The residents of the prison get new housing assignments, and Daryl and Beth share some quality time with Little Asskicker.

Thank you to everyone who has read the story so far ... I really appreciate it ;)

And, a ****Special Thank you to deni269, granolalola9, and Andromeda fo**** **r bookmarking and/or commenting on the last chapter - you rock!!**

Still trying to establish Beth and Daryl's move from friends to flirtations here, so the next couple of chapters will be heating up as I try to create that chemistry and connection between the two of them :-D

**Back to our story ....**   
**  
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

**Daryl’s POV –**

“Rick!”

I walked over to Rick; Glenn, Karen, Tyrese, and Sasha all followed behind me.

“We’re all done.”

“You got through the two other cell blocks?”

“Cleared and ready to go.”

“That’s great. We’ll use Cell Block B for additional housing and Cell Block D for an infirmary and storage. We’re gonna need a lot more room for supplies with all these extra people here.”

I nodded; he definitely had a point. I wasn’t sure what our final count was, but we definitely had a lot more people roaming around. Even though everyone was pretty tired and looked a bit drained; I’d say the prison looked damned lively compared to our previously small group.

Rick continued. “Alright, well … let’s go ahead and let the others know that they can start moving in here.”

“Okay.”

“Hey guys, before you go … I wanted to talk to you all about something.” Rick seemed to have something on his mind. “I think for safety reasons, we should definitely split up the soldiers and fighters into two groups. One group for each cell block. That way everyone’s got experienced fighters in their block.”

“That sounds fine. What were you thinking?” Tyrese chimed in.

“Well, I don’t want to split any families up so, Glenn … I’d like to have you stay here in Cell Block C with me, Carl and Judith. Of course, Maggie, Hershel and Beth will stay here too. Karen, you’ll stay here in Cell Block C too, and I’d appreciate it if you could assist me and split up the residents of Woodbury into two groups. I know you know them all pretty well and can help determine which residents would work best in each housing unit. I sure would appreciate it if you could go ahead and get started on that for me. Here’s a pad of paper and a pen. Make sure to write down everyone’s names and which unit they’ll be. Then, mark their hands with either the letter B or C, so we can keep track of them. ”

Rick watched Karen carefully, as she placed her arms on her waist and enthusiastically responded at his request.

“Yeah, of course, Rick. No problem.” She gave him a shy smile and then headed off into the common area; already starting to take down names and mark peoples’ hands.

“Then, Daryl I’d like to see you, Michonne, Tyrese and Sasha in Cell Block B along with Carol and the other half of the residents from Woodbury. Does that work for everyone?”

“Sounds good to me, Rick.”

“Ok, then I’ll let everyone know. Carl can you run outside and see if there’s anyone outside? And, make sure to let Maggie and Michonne know about their cell assignments.”

Carl looked a little annoyed. I swear that boy was getting more and more ornery as the days went on. We’d all heard about him killing that boy out in the woods. And, it didn’t look like his attitude was gettin’ much better. It was probably a phase. All kids went through a bit of a rebellious phase, just most kids didn’t do it during a Zombie Apocalypse. He’d calm down once life got a little more back to normal. Or, at least I hope so.

Carl ran off and headed outside, while Rick then walked over to the middle of the common area and jumped up and the table and let everyone know about the whole housing assignment process. Not too complicated, but we needed to get everyone a place to call their own. Things would start to feel more like home.  
 ****  
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo  
  
Beth’s POV –

The sun was starting to set; evening was fast approaching. Without power, I was sure that there was going to be a push to get everyone to their new ‘homes’ as soon as possible. At least I didn’t have to move and get all my stuff together; thank God for the little things …

My dad and I sat in the common area, and I had Judith with me. It had taken me a while to get her to sleep, and sometimes she would just wake up if I put her down; so, I decided to just hold onto her so she could at least get a good nap today. We watched as the people started to pick up their bags and migrate over to Cell Block B, when my dad finally chimed in.

“Glad we get to all stay together. Hopefully, we can all get settled and into some sort of a routine here soon.”

“I agree. With everything that’s happened, I am definitely ready to get back into a routine. It would certainly help get Judith back on a schedule.”

I rocked Judith, who was thankfully taking a nap in my arms right now. My dad looked over at us and smiled.

“You know, Beth. I sure am proud of how you’ve taken care of Judith. Having a baby is a lot of responsibility, and I know Rick is sure glad that you’ve been here to take care of her. He’s got enough on his mind, I am sure he’s been relieved to know she’s with you and that she’s being looked after so well. And, I have to say it Beth; you _are_ a natural.”

“Thanks, Dad. But, she’s been so easy; she’s such a good girl.”

I smiled and looked down at Judith, and heard voice say “He’s right, ya know?”

I looked up as Daryl walked up to the three of us; his crossbow slung over his shoulder as usual. I swear that thing had become another one of his limbs; I barely ever see him without it; I swear that thing had become another one of his limbs. I imagined that crossbow had now somehow become surgically attached to him; the thought of this put a smile on my face.

Daryl must have caught the smile, which I had unintentionally given.

“What? You don’t think so?”

“Oh, I don’t know, Daryl. I think she’s just takin’ it easy on me.”

“Oh, come on now, Beth. Don’t be so modest. Everyone here knows just how hard you been working on keeping little Asskicker here safe and happy. Right, Hershel?”

“Sure do!” My father quietly chuckled, and gently patted me on my back and then grabbed his crutches and got up. “Alright, kids. I’m gonna head over and speak with Rick about a few things.

“Okay, Dad. Love you.”

“You too, sweetheart.”

When my dad got up and left, I half expected Daryl to leave too … but, he didn’t. Instead he took a seat next to me, close enough for me to feel the warmth of his body as he sat down next to me.

“Hey!” I shyly smiled.

“Hey, yourself.” Daryl just stared at me for a moment and then reached over and ran his fingers over Judith’s head. “She’s gettin’ real big, ain’t she?”

“Sure is. She’ll be walkin’ and talkin’ before we know it.”

We both laughed a bit, but then there was a bit of an awkward silence as Daryl just kind of smiled and stared into my eyes. He finally broke the silence by asking to hold Judith for a while.

“Of course, you can hold her.”

I handed her over to him, and he carefully slid his arms underneath mine to take her.

“Ah, man. She is freakin’ cute.” He smiled as he looked down at her. “Never really been around many babies before, but I think she’s gotta be the cutest damn thing I ever seen.”

”She is, isn’t she. I just love her so much. She’s like family now.”

Daryl looked up and me, smiled and stared at me again; it was like he was staring into my soul or something. He didn’t normally do things like that, and it was unnerving, but not in a bad way; actually, it was kind of great. He just had a way about him when he talked to me … and, he made me feel safe; he made me feel alive. I just loved that about him. He made us all feel so safe.

He continued to hold her and I listened to his every word as he gushed about Judith, my beautiful little girl.

“Guess she probably thinks you’re her momma being that you’re the one taking care of her all the time. You’ve been a real good mom, Beth. I’m sure Lori would be happy bout it.”

Momma! Geez, I guess I hadn’t thought of it like that, but I guess she would probably see me like that being that I take care of her all the time. I did feel as if she were mine; I mean she was basically my responsibility. Taking care of her was one of the main tasks I’d inherited in this group. She was kind of mine, in a way; and, I liked that Daryl saw it that way too. And, I knew he loved her, so that was a big statement coming from him.

“Wow, that was quite the compliment. Thanks, Daryl.”

I didn’t know what else to say, but I could feel the blood rush to my cheeks. I’m sure by now Daryl noticed the blushing on my cheeks. I was definitely surprised by his comment and it made me feel really good that he had noticed me; even if it was for just how I took care of the baby.

He continued to rock her a little in his arms; when she smiled at him in her sleep.

“She must know it is you who’s holding her. She barely ever does that.”

“Really?”

_“Really.”_

Daryl looked pleasantly surprised and a little proud that Judith had takin’ such a liking to him.

“Huh! Well, ain’t that somethin’?”

Then, he handed her back over to me. While I had her in my arms, he made sure to tuck the edges of her blanket around her, and he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. Then, he looked up at me.

 

“You’ve got a piece of hair stuck. Here lemme get it for ya.”

He reached up and swept a piece of my hair back that had gotten trapped while tucking Judith in; his hand grazing the back of my neck and shoulder as he moved my hair from behind her blanket.

“Thanks, Daryl.” I replied sweetly.

“No problem, Beth.”

We both smiled at each other, and I couldn’t help but notice his beautiful blue eyes. They seemed on fire the way the light hit them; I got lost in them for a moment. That was until he told me he had been reassigned to Cell Block B.

I felt my heart sink inside my chest and a curious lump formed in my throat; keeping me from responding this new information. I wanted to inquire further into why he had to go, but my mouth seemed paralyzed for the moment. What the heck was going on with me today?

Daryl got up and stood directly in front of me; adjusting the crossbow on his shoulder.

“Well, I gotta better head up and get my stuff packed. I’m supposed to be movin’ today with some of the others.”

I half-heartedly joked with him, “But, we’ll never get to see each other now with you moving so far away.”

He smiled.

“Well, since it’s so far … let’s make a point to not be strangers. It wouldn’t be very neighborly of us, if we didn’t at least stop by and say hello every now and again, now would it?”

“Sure wouldn’t.”

“I know I’m gonna miss yer singing, that’s for sure.”

“Yeah? Well, I’ll sing for you whenever you want _. Promise.”_

“Alright, then. I’ll have to take you up on that … see ya tomorrow?”

“Yep.”

“Good night, Beth.”

“Good night, Daryl.”

I looked down at Judith, she looked so peaceful. She was always so soothing to me. But, as I watched Daryl walk away I could feel a slight twinge in my heart, an ache … I really was going to miss our little group; and, I was going to miss him being so close all the time. I wondered if he was really going to miss me too …  
 **  
END CHAPTER TWO**

**ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

### Notes

Like I said ... things have got to heat up naturally. They're going from friends to more, so it's gonna take a few chapters to get them to a believable place. But, for those of you that have read Maggie's Nightmare, you'll know a little more about their timeline of events for their courtship ;)  
  
So, let me know what you think; **like it, love it, hate it** ... let me know your thoughts.  
  
 **Of course, if you like this story, please make sure to bookmark this story and if you have a moment ... please leave a comment on your way out.**

**You know I love to hear from you :-D**  
  
xoxo,  
Dahlia


	3. My Guardian: Chapter Three

Hello y'all,

As always, I want to thank you everyone who is reading this the story .... I really appreciate it!

And, a **Special Thank you to Feuercrux and XDarcyXAvengersX4XEverX for officially bookmarking this story & deni269 for the Kudos** \- **you all rock!!**  
  
As I mentioned, I'm definitely trying to build up the relationship between Daryl and Beth. They're 'just friends,' and I really want to explore their friendship and what these two make a good match. The next couple of chapters will be exploring that and then we'll get into more of their budding affection for one another. I can't wait, but I guess we can't just skip ahead ... gotta be patient and wait for it to develop on it's own ;-P  
  
 **Now back to our story ...**  
  
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo  
  
 **Daryl’s POV –**

I didn’t really have many things, so it only took one trip with just one box to move all my things to Cell Block B. As I started to unpack a few things, Rick walked into the ‘doorway’ of my cell.  
  
“Daryl … can I talk to you for a minute?”  
  
“Sure thing, Rick. What’s up?”  
  
Rick lowered his head; he started to rub the back of his neck. I could tell he was really chewing on somethin,’ so I stopped unpacking and gave him my full attention.  
  
“With the Governor still on the loose, I think it’s best if we increase security here at the prison.”  
  
“I agree. Can’t be too careful.”  
  
“I wanna increase the number of people on watch and I think we’re gonna need guards day and night; seven days a week – just to be on the safe side.”  
  
“Alright, Rick. How you figuring were gonna be able to cover all those guard shifts and keep up with everything else here?”  
  
“I was thinkin’ of asking Karen to give me a list of Woodbury residents that are qualified or have some experience that we can work with.”  
  
“You think we can trust them?  
  
“I’m not sure yet. So, I want to make sure that at least one or two people from our original group is in charge of each watch shift.”  
  
“Think that’ll be enough?”  
  
“It’s gonna have to do for now. The Governor doesn’t have numbers working for him anymore, but that doesn’t mean that he can’t start trouble for us … we just gotta keep a look out for him. And, if he does come back – we’ll be ready for him.”  
  
I nodded in agreement; letting Rick know I was with him on this one.  
  
“Okay. Well … we got six of our core group we can work on rotation – You, me, Michonne, Maggie, Glenn and Carol. Hershel’s out and I don’t think Beth should be out here on her own. Plus, she’s got Little Ahh …”  
  
I caught Rick’s eyebrows perk up. I could tell he kind of hated her nickname.  
  
“Uh, I mean … she’s got Judith to watch over.”  
  
“Right . . . so, go ahead and talk to Glenn and Maggie, I’ll talk to Michonne and Carol. Let’s get them up to speed, and then I’ll talk to Karen about getting some of the new residents assigned shifts.”  
  
Rick turned to leave, but I caught him before he was out of ear shot.  
  
“Rick?”  
  
He walked back over to the doorway.  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“I was thinking that Glenn and I are probably gonna need to head out on a supply run here soon, so we should probably take the first set of night watches. That way we can head out on a supply run next week.”  
  
“Okay. That works for me. You two can start tonight, and I’ll ask Tyrese if he’ll take night watch with you two. Shouldn’t be a problem.”  
  
I sat down on my cot and tossed around some of the items in the box. I found myself preoccupied now. Thinking about that son of a bitch, he really made my blood boil. And, I knew we hadn’t seen the last of him. He wouldn’t just leave this alone; he couldn’t.

Then, I thought of our group and everything we’d all been through. Carol had lost Sophia, we had lost the others at the farm, and now Andrea. Not to mention my brother … my only family left in this world. I was alone but yet I’d never had more responsibility in my life! I knew my group counted on me and they were my new family now. Hell, even these new folk from Woodbury were counting me … on Rick … on all of us. Not only to feed them and shelter them, but to protect them from a man they once thought was their savior.  
  
The whole thing was messed up and it wasn’t really fair, but Rick and I both agreed that this was the right thing to do. We couldn’t live anymore without people; we needed to start to rebuild ‘life.’ It was just real hard and I knew we couldn’t let our guards down not even for a minute. I just hoped and prayed that we had some peace and quiet, at least for a little while. Life was tough enough these days without other people goin’ and makin’ it harder on one another.  
 **  
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**  
  
 **Beth’s POV -**  
  
I was in my cell with Judith when I overheard Daryl talking to Maggie and Glenn down the hallway. His mild southern drawl was unmistakable.  
  
“We’re gonna take the first night shifts, since we got to make a supply run here soon.”  
  
“Alright, Daryl. I’ll see you out there in a bit.”  
  
Then, I heard the crunch of boots along the dusty corridor. Louder and louder as the footsteps came closer to my cell.  
  
“Hey Beth! How’s my Little Asskicker?”  
  
“Oh, she’s okay. She’s been a little fussy today. I think she’s got a little cold or something.’”  
  
“She okay?”  
  
“Yeah, I’m sure she’s fine. I checked and she doesn’t have a temperature, but I can tell she doesn’t feel good.”  
  
“Poor little thing.”  
  
Daryl walked over and knelt beside the cot where I had Judith laid down. She had a small blanket over her, which he pulled down. He grabbed one of her chubby hands and put it in his. He gently rubbed his thumb over her small hand.  
  
“Well, at least she’s sleepin’ for now. Hopefully, she’ll get some rest and feel better quick.”  
  
“Well, I hope so. She kept me up last night, so I hope she sleeps through tonight.”

Daryl looked up at me; his eyes beaming, then he smiled. “I know it’s hard doin’ what you’re doin.’”  
  
“Well, it’s not as hard as what you do, Daryl. You know, protecting us all like you do.”

I coyly smiled and looked back down at Judith.  
  
“Yeah, well … I got night watch, so I might not see you two around the next couple of days. But, I’ll stop by if I can.”  
  
“Okay, sure. I mean … definitely stop by if you can. Judith loves to see you.”  
  
Daryl stood up and walked over to the doorway and back into the corridor. He looked back into the cell, back at me.  
  
“I’ll try if I can; you know I like spending time with the two of you.”  
  
He gave me a quick crooked smile, and I listened to the sound of his boots as he walked down the corridor and out of the cell block.  
 **  
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**  
  
About an hour or so past, when Glenn walked up to my cell and popped his head in.  
  
”Hey Beth! How’s my little sister doing?”  
  
I laughed. “Good, Glenn. And, you?”  
  
“Good. Just headin’ out for night watch. Got assigned night watch the next four days, so … we’ll probably be on different schedules here for the next few days.”  
  
“Yeah, I heard. Daryl told me.”  
  
“Did he? Huh …” Glenn paused and then he walked into my cell a little more; his voice turned into more of a whisper. “Hey, you think you can do me favor?”  
  
“Yeah, sure.”  
  
“Well, Maggie’s been … well, she’s been acting a little weird lately. She’s been seems to be a little down lately. I think with everything that happened, she’s still feelin’ a little off.”  
  
“I noticed that too.”  
  
“Could you just keep an eye on her? Maybe see what’s up?”  
  
“Sure, of course.”  
  
“She won’t talk to me about it, but I feel like she’s still dealing with something. Think you can try talking to her?”  
  
“I’ll make a point to check in on her. And, I will definitely see if I can get her to talk to me; she definitely has not been herself. Don’t worry about it, Glenn. I’m sure she’s fine.”  
  
“Thanks, Beth.”  
  
“No problem, Glenn.”  
  
“Have a good night.”  
  
“You too, Glenn. Be safe!”  
  
“Thanks, I will.”  
  
Glenn hurried down the corridor and I decided I would go ahead and head on over to Maggie’s room and see if I could find out what was up with her. Judith was still asleep, and I didn’t want to wake her. So, I propped up some blankets along the edge of the cot so she couldn’t roll off, and I walked over to have a talk with my sis.  
  
Her room was really dark; she had a sheet up covering the bars. So, I knocked on the wall beside the doorway of her room, and pulled the sheets down a bit to let some light in.  
  
“Hey, Maggie. You in here?”  
  
I heard her quietly respond. “Yeah, I’m in here.”  
  
It sounded like she’d been crying, but I wasn’t positive. So, walked over towards the cot and could see that she was curled up in a little ball facing the wall. I sat down beside her and rubbed her back.  
  
“Ya alright, Maggie?”  
  
“Yeah. I just don’t feel good.”  
  
“You sick?”  
  
“No, just need to get some rest is all. I’ll be fine.”  
  
“Well, you don’t sound fine. I’m gonna get dad.”  
  
Maggie turned around quickly and grabbed my arm.  
  
“No, Beth, please. I’m fine. I don’t need you to get dad.  
  
“Well, you’re obviously upset. I’m getting really worried about you … Do you want to talk about it?  
  
“No. Not now. I’m fine. I didn’t mean to worry you. It’s just everything’s been so crazy. I’ve just been feeling really overwhelmed lately. It’ll pass, I’m sure.”  
  
“That’s it? You’re just stressed?”  
  
“Yeah, stress, I guess. And, well ... I haven't been sleeping that great, so I think I'm just real tired too."  
  
I didn’t really believe that was it, but I also knew that I couldn’t force her to talk to me if she didn’t want to. I couldn’t help her if she didn’t want help. All I could do is let her know that I was here for her if she needed me.  
  
“Well, you know you can talk to me … about anything. I’m here for you, you know that.”  
  
“I know.” Maggie sat up and gave me a big hug. “I know. Thanks for being such a good sister.” I could see her smile as she wiped her teary eyes.  
  
“Alright, well, I’m gonna head downstairs and make some tea. You want some?”  
  
“Sure, Beth. Thanks.”  
 ****  
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo  
  
I walked downstairs and immediately walked over to area where we kept some of our food stored.  
  
“Whatcha lookin’ for?”  
  
I looked behind me to find Carol with her hands perched on her waist.  
  
“Oh, I was just gonna make some tea for Maggie. She’s been a little stressed lately, I thought she could use some tea to relax.  
  
“Everything okay”

“Yeah. She’s just been a little stressed and on edge since she got back from Woodbury. She’ll be fine though, it’s just gonna take some time.”  
  
“Well, if you’re looking for tea, I think its in one of those boxes over there.”  
  
Carol pointed to a stack of boxes in the corner of the room.  
  
“Thanks.”  
  
I pulled a few boxes down before finding the one that had ‘Coffee & Tea’ written on the front in black marker. I sifted through the box and found a box of chamomile tea and set it to the side.  
  
“That’s a good one.” Carol leaned up against the frame of the door and crossed her arms and continued. “You know … if you’re gonna make some tea for Maggie, would you mind taking out some coffee to Glenn, Daryl and Tyrese. I think the boys could use a little coffee; it’s gonna be a long night. I think there’s some instant coffee in that box somewhere.”  
  
I felt myself jump at the idea.  
  
“That’s a great idea, Carol. I’m sure they’d appreciate that.”  
  
“I’m sure they would …Want me to get some water heated?”  
  
“Yeah, if you could, that would be great.”  
  
“Sure thing.”  
  
Carol walked out of the storage room, while I continued to look through the box until I found the glass jar of instant coffee.  
  
This is exactly what I need; a little time to hang with the guys. I’d been so consumed lately with Judith and helping the other women and children get adjusted here, it would be nice to get some time to hang with the boys … especially, Daryl.  
  
I just really liked being around him. He was so sweet and easy to talk to; I’ve always felt that he just got me. And, I was kind of already missing him just knowing he wasn’t going to be around the next couple of days. It’s funny how just the idea of him not being around made me miss him something terrible. The coffee was the perfect excuse to see him; even it was just for a minute.  
  
“Now … where is this damn coffee?” I thought to myself. “A ha!”  
  
I could hear Carol call from across the way. “You find it?”

“Sure did, I’ll be right over.”  
  
I handed Carol the box of tea, which she set on top of the table.  
  
“I think I’m gonna make this tea for Maggie now, and I’ll bring out the coffee a bit later. I gotta feed Judith in a little bit, so I’ll take it out to them after I feed her.”  
  
“Sounds good. I’ll just leave this stuff out for you that way you can make it when you’re ready.”  
  
Carol nodded and patted me on the back.  
  
Carol went off to bed, while I made Maggie some tea. I really hoped this would at least help her get some sleep tonight. And, although I had my own ‘night watch’ with Judith, I could feel myself getting excited to hang with the guys for a little while later tonight. Excited and a little nervous; I could feel butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it.  
  
Hanging with the boys would be a nice reprieve from all this “women’s work” I’d been doing, plus I’d get a little time with Daryl, which was always something I looked forward to these days.  
  
 **END CHAPTER THREE**

**oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

Like I said ... things have got to heat up naturally. They're going from friends to more, so it's gonna take a few chapters to get them to a believable place. But, for those of you that have read Maggie's Nightmare, you'll know a little more about their timeline of events for their courtship ;)  
  
 ** _Teaser for Chapter Four_ :** _This chapter will be focused just on Daryl and Beth, so we should get to finally start to see some sparks flying :-P_  
  
So, let me know what you think; **like it, love it, hate it** ... let me know your thoughts.  
  
 **And, if you're enjoying the story, make sure to Bookmark it and please take a comment or review this story on your way out. You know I love to hear from you :-D**  
  
xoxo,  
Dahlia


	4. My Guardian: Chapter Four

Hello y'all :-D  
  
So, thankfully, I was able to get this next chapter together fairly quickly! Woo hoo!

I want to thank all of you who are reading and following along with this story ... I really appreciate it!

And, as always I want to give a **Special Thank you to "GUEST"** (I wish I could thank you by name but you know who you are) **for leaving a KUDOS on the story - you made me smile! :))**  
  
To all of you new readers, please do make sure if you're reading this story to BOOKMARK, so you can keep up-to-date with all future posts ;)

**now back to our story ...**

**oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

**Daryl’s POV -**  
  
It had only been a couple of hours into my night watch, when I heard a noise coming from the prison. I turned around to see the door to the prison open. From a distance, I couldn’t tell who it was … at least not until she stepped into the moonlight. It was Beth.  
  
“Whatch you doin’ out here so late?”  
  
Beth walked up closer and I could see she had a tray with four mugs on it.  
  
“Brought you boys some coffee; thought you could use a little pick me up.”  
  
“Thanks. Sure was nice of you.”  
  
I reached over and grabbed one of the mugs from her tray.  
  
“You know where Glenn and Tyrese are?” Beth stepped a little closer to me, and I could see her face in the light of the moon. She was smiling, her lips closed and full.  
  
“Yeah, they’re down at the fences. They’ll be back to meet up here soon. You wanna just leave that here with me?”  
  
“No, that’s okay. I’ll wait.”  
  
“Well, here … if you’re gonna wait. Let me take that.”  
  
I reached over and grabbed the tray from her and set it down on the hood of one of the cars parked near us. She followed close behind me, and leaned up against the side of the driver’s side door.  
  
“It’s nice out tonight isn’t it?”  
  
“Yeah. It’s been quiet tonight. Not too many walkers. So, that’s always good. Just a couple that were roaming near the fence.”  
  
“Is that why Tyrese and Glenn went down there?”  
  
“Yeah, sure is. We’re trying not to let them pile up on us. Killing them as soon as we spot them, no more letting them roam around the perimeter.”  
  
“Well, I guess that’s probably for the best.”  
  
She leaned back against the car and crossed her arms, and with one of her hands she reached up and started to twirl her hair around her fingers. I could see the talk about the walkers had made her anxious. So, I walked over and leaned up against the car beside her. I reached over and put my arm around her.  
  
“Hey … nothin’ to worry bout though. We’ve got it under control.”  
  
I pulled her into my side, giving her a reassuring half hug. I looked down at her as she brushed the hair back from her face.  
  
“Sure. It’s silly I guess.”  
  
“Nah … it ain’t silly. But, seriously, you don’t need to worry bout any of that stuff right now.” I paused and tried to change the subject. “So, how’s Little Asskicker? She sleepin’ now?”  
  
“Yes. She is. Sound asleep. Got another couple hours before she gets up for a feeding.”  
  
“She ain’t givin’ you too much trouble?”  
  
“She’s an angel – you know that!”  
  
I smiled and laughed a bit. “Angel, huh?”  
  
“Yeah! A quiet baby with all these walkers around – she’s a freakin’ miracle!”  
  
We both laughed a bit. In the darkness I started to see a figure walking up to us, and then I heard Glenn’s voice.  
  
“Hey Beth, whatcha doin’ out here?”  
  
“Just brought ya some coffee.”

“Oh, nice.” Glenn grabbed for a mug and slowly sipped the coffee before continuing. “So, you get a chance to talk with Beth yet?”

  
“Yeah, I did.”  
  
“Can talk to you for a second?”  
  
Then, Glenn gently grabbed Beth by the arm and led her away, just out of earshot. I could hear them talking, but I couldn’t exactly make out what they were saying. A few minutes later they both walked back over to where I was standing, and Glenn reached over and took the other coffee mug.  
  
“I’ll take this to Tyrese. I’ll catch up with you later, Daryl.”  
  
I nodded to Glenn and he walked back down into the lower prison yard where Tyrese was waiting.  
  
“What was that all about?”  
  
“Oh, nothin’ really. Glenn’s just been worried about Maggie. She ain’t been the same; ya know … since she got back from Woodbury.”  
  
“I know. Glenn mentioned somethin’ to me about it earlier.”  
  
“He did? What did he say?” Beth looked genuinely curious, or maybe it was concerned – I couldn’t quite tell.  
  
“He said Maggie was off. Wanted to know if I knew anything.”

“Why would you know anything?” Beth crooked her head to the side, she looked a little annoyed.

“Just that Merle was close with the Governor, he thought maybe Merle mighta said somethin’ to me bout the whole thing.”  
  
“ _And_ … did he?”

“No, he didn’t say much.”

I didn’t continue - I really didn’t want to be talking about this stuff. It made me think of Merle, which made me miss him. And, it made me think of what he did, which made me feel terrible.  
  
“That’s it? He didn’t say much?”  
  
Beth pushed herself up off the car, and stood in front of me. Almost like she could tell I was feeling like bolting, running away. And, here she was this tiny little thing blocking my escape. She stood up straight, pushed her shoulders back and crooked her head to the side; posturing and pushing me for more information.  
  
“Oh, come on, Daryl. He must have told you somethin'?”  
  
“He didn’t tell me anything that we all don’t already know. Okay? He said he had beat up Glenn pretty bad, left him in a room with a walker while he was tied to a chair.”  
  
“And...? What about Maggie?”

I looked away. I didn’t have anything to do with it, but Merle did … and I felt so ashamed.

“Jus that … Merle didn’t know exactly what happened while the doors were closed. Jus said that _he_ was in the room with Maggie for a while. Then, she came out of the room … without her top on.”  
  
Beth looked back at the ground, I watched as she crossed her arms protectively.  
  
“That’s it. He didn’t know exactly what happened, but he said from the look of her … well … Merle thought he worked her over pretty good.”  
 _  
“Jesus,_ Daryl! How could he just stand by and let that happen?!”  
  
“Come on, Beth. Merle wasn’t a saint, but he certainly wasn’t okay with that kind of shit. It was a complicated situation and he was just obeyin’ orders – you know that.”  
  
“Obeying orders – what bullshit!”  
  
Beth exhaled loudly and quickly; stomping off. She stopped and kicked the ground with her boot, sending dust and rocks into the air. I could tell she was pissed. She was always so calm and sweet, but I could tell she was pissed now. She ran both her hands through her hair and then turned around to face me, her eyes still not meeting mine. When she finally did, she just had a simple question.  
  
“Did he think anything else happened to her?”  
  
 _Fuucck!_ My mind screamed; I had hoped she wasn’t going to ask that. I wasn’t comfortable talking bout this kinda stuff, especially, with Beth. She walked back up to me, closer and closer until we were just a foot apart. Her big blue eyes bored into mine, I could see she was tearing up.  
  
“Well? What did he say?”  
  
“He said he didn’t know, but that he wouldn’t put anything passed that guy. From some of the things Merle told me, that guy was fuckin’ insane.  
  
“Yeah, I know...! And, my sister, was locked in a room with him doing God knows what to her.”  
  
Beth managed to get out the last few words before bursting into tears.  
  
I hated to see her like that. God, I felt awful. I know it wasn’t my fault, but I couldn’t help but feel somehow linked to the whole thing, since Merle took them to Woodbury -  trying to find me.  
  
“I’m _so_ sorry.”  
  
“Sorry? Why are you sorry? You didn’t do anything?” She whimpered.  
  
“I dunno. Guess I kinda always felt like this was my fault.”

Beth forcefully tried to stop herself from crying now. She took in several deep breaths before continuing.

“Why would you say that, Daryl?” She sniffled and wiped some of the tears from her face.  
  
“This isn’t your fault. Not in any way is this your fault.”  
  
I shifted my weight, leaning back onto the car near us. I let my head hang in front of me; trying hide some of the shame and guilt I felt.  
  
“Guess I thought maybe … everyone here kinda blamed me for all that. Blamed me for Merle. For gettin' involved with that mess in Woodbury.”  
  
I could feel my face flushing, my eyes filling to the brim with tears. But, I held them back - no way was I gonna to cry in front of Beth.  
  
“No one here feels that way, Daryl. No one ever has. Please … trust me on that one.”  
  
“If you say so.”  
  
She walked up to me close to me, so close it made me a little uncomfortable at first. Then, I felt her hand on my forearm. She held it tighter and tighter as she spoke.  
  
“I do say so. No one here puts any of this on you, Daryl. Ya hear me?”  
  
“I just feel bad for everything. Maggie’s hurtin,’ Glenn’s upset and now you, and … " I paused and looked down at the ground. I could feel the heat rush to my face as I thought about Merle; the anger and hurt was still so fresh. "And, to boot -- Merle’s dead! I ain’t even got a body to get mad at!”

My breathing quickened as all the emotions that I'd held in all this time seemed to bubble right at the brim; threatening to boil over, which was somethin' I was comfortable with. Beth must've seen how distressed I'd gotten.

Beth continued; her voice was soft and sweet.

“Sorry about that Daryl. I didn’t mean to bring up Merle." I looked back up at her; she seemed genuinely concerned."I just got riled up, is all. The thought of what might have happened, and now to see Maggie so out of sorts … I guess I feel kinda helpless. I ... I shouldn't have taken it out on you.” She exhaled deeply; tryin' to compose herself. “I just hate to see her like this. Matter of fact; I’ve _never_ seen here like this. I don’t know … I feel like she’s just tryin' to brush this off. She won’t talk to me bout it and I’m starting to get real worried. And, from what Glenn’s told me; we ain’t even seen the half of it."

I shook my head and started to gnaw at the skin around my thumb.

"Yeah, Maggie's been hidin' it pretty well from us all, but she ain’t dealt with this yet ... and it’s eating her up.”  
  
“Man …I just wish it was me that went with Glenn that day. It shoulda been me. We’re the supply runners. Of all the times for Glenn to have gone with Maggie instead of _me_ … If I had gone, none of this woulda happened. Just feels like a lot of this shit rolls back down hill to me.”  
  
Beth looked at me, not saying a word. Then, she leaned in and wrapped her arms around my waist; putting her head against my chest. I didn’t know what to do at first, she caught me off guard. But, I found myself wrapping my arms tightly around her and I just held her.  
  
“It ain’t your fault - none of it. You’re a good man, Daryl … and everyone knows it. None of this was your fault. I hope you believe me when I say that. We wouldn’t even be alive if it wasn’t for you.”  
  
“Thanks, Beth.”  
  
I held onto her; pulling her into me tighter. She tightened her embrace, and rubbed my back as if she was trying to sooth me or somethin’. It was sweet; guess she did have that whole mothering thing going on right now.  
  
Everything she said made sense, but I couldn’t help but doubt myself - I didn’t _really_ believe that no one blamed me. If I had gone with Glenn that day or Merle hadn’t been such a stubborn son of a bitch; none of this would’ve ever happened. But, it was nice to hear Beth say it. I hoped and prayed that everyone here knew how sorry I was, and I hoped that in the end they saw that Merle sacrificed himself tryin' to end this whole thing with the Governor for us. Merle could be such a bastard in one hand, and in the other he was as loyal as they come.  
  
As I stood there, Beth still wrapped in my arms. I had a beautiful woman holdin' onto me, and all I could think about my brother. _Damn!_ Even after he was dead he managed to get me all twisted up inside. He always had a way of doing bad shit, and leaving me with the mess to clean up. But, Merle was dead … and I couldn’t do nothin’ to let him know how pissed off I was with him … or how much I still missed him.

And, then I felt Beth shiver a bit in arms, and she whispered.

“ _Damn!_ It’s gettin’ cold out here at night.”  
  
I looked down at her, and rubbed her back to warm her up.   
  
I exhaled deeply as I continued to think bout Merle and all this shit we'd all been through. I did my best to shake the feelings of self-doubt, but I figured it'd be a long time before I would ever be able to let that feelin' go. Just too much had happened. I felt Beth sway a little in my embrace, which got me outta my head. 

I looked back down at Beth, her head still nuzzled against me. My arms still around her.

  
_Jesus ...! How long had we been just standing here together?_

I realized it had been a while ... I had seriously just gotten lost in my own thoughts. I bit my bottom lip and looked around to see if anyone was around and didn’t see anyone.

_Thank God for small favors ...!_

I certainly didn't want anyone gettin’ the wrong idea.  
  
“Hey, ya alright?” I asked as I gently pulled Beth away from me.  
  
She smiled sweetly. “Yeah … you?”   
  
“I’m fine.” I said confidently - although I was lyin' through my teeth.  
  
“Thanks for talking with me, Daryl. I know you’ve got work to do out here, so I’ll leave ya to it.”  
  
She walked over and picked up the tray she had brought out – her mug of tea still on it.  
  
“I’m gonna head inside; check on Judith.”  
  
“Alright, Beth … good night.”  
  
“Night, Daryl.”  
  
I watched as Beth walked back inside the prison and closed the door. 

_"Damn! Better get back to work." I mumbled to myself._

And, although Beth had tried to make me feel better ... my mind remained busy and my heart was heavy the rest of the night. If Beth and Glenn were that worried, then Maggie must not be doing well. Maggie was so sweet and so was Beth; it made me real upset to think of either of them hurtin' because of something I did or didn’t do.

My mind wandered all night; I just wished that there was a way to make this better for them. I wish there was somethin' I could do.

**END OF CHAPTER FOUR**

**ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

**** NOTES FROM THE AUTHOR:**

As you can see with this chapter, Beth and Daryl are spending more and more time together. And, although the conversation got pretty heavy, they still took one step closer to each other. But, we can see that Daryl is still very conflicted about what happened at Woodbury, he feels like he's somehow responsible, and he still has to deal with the death of his brother. So, he's got some stuff he's working through. Beth's got her sister and Judith to worry about. So, they've both got some things that are weighing heavy on each of them.  
  
I'm going to spend the next few chapters developing their bond. They will continue to take steps towards each other and get to know one another better - not just as friends but on a deeper level.  
  
 ** _Teaser for Chapter Five_** ... _Beth continues to visit with Daryl. And, Glenn and Daryl go out on a supply run when things take a turn for the worst. Dun, dun, dun ..._  
  
So, let me know what you think; **like it, love it, hate it** ... let me know your thoughts.  
  
 **And, if you're enjoying reading this story, please leave a comment or review on your way out ...  you know I love to hear from you all :-D**

xoxo,

Dahlia


	5. My Guardian: Chapter Five - Part One

Hello y'all :-D  
  
I want to thank all of you who are reading and following along with this story ... I really appreciate it!

And, as always I want to give a **Special Thank you to PouringCream for Bookmarking and to the several "GUESTS"** (I wish I could thank you by name but you know who you are) **for leaving a KUDOS on the story - you made me smile! :))**  
  
To all of you new readers, please do make sure if you're reading this story to BOOKMARK, so you can keep up-to-date with all future posts ;)

**Now back to our story ...  
  
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo  
  
Daryl’s POV –**

Sun was up now; Rick and the rest of day guards would be out any minute. I couldn’t help myself, but I kept go over and over again in my head the conversation that I had with Beth last night. I just felt “off.” I had a pit in my stomach that was gnawing away at me, and I was sure it wasn’t from the fact that that I hadn’t eaten any food for the last 16 hours. I needed to talk to Beth again and make sure we were good. But, that would have to wait until later.  
  
Rick and Karen were the first to arrive in the yard. Rick walked up to me and asked me how the night guard watch went. I gave him the rundown, and left out the part about my conversation with Beth. It was none of his business anyways, I figured. Rick patted me on the shoulder and told me to head on up to my cell.  
  
“You look tired. Go on, now. Catch some shut eye and I’ll we’ll finish this conversation up later tonight.”  
 **  
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**  
  
I only slept for about 5 or 6 hours before the sounds of kids in the common area woke me up. I rubbed my tired eyes and sat up on my cot.  
  
I grumbled as I began to finally fully wake up. “ _Damn._ Why these kids always gotta be runnin’ round yellin’ like that? _Jesus.”_  
  
I slowly stood up and I looked at myself in the mirror; somethin’ I tried not to do too often. I looked tired; my eyes were bloodshot and my face was awful dirty. So, I threw some water on my face from the bucket of water I kept near my sink to clean off some of the dirt and ran my wet hands through my hair; attempting to brush back the matted hair that had formed on the back of my head.  
 _  
“There. That’s better.”_ I smiled to myself. I should be good for another week or two.  
  
I headed downstairs and walked over to Cell Block C so I could find somethin’ to eat. As I walked through the barred door, I could see Carol was hard at work tending to things around the common area. Bunch of the kids were gathered around her, which she gently shooed away as I approached her.  
  
“Hey Carol.”  
  
“Oh, morning, Daryl.” She smiled. She thought it was hilarious that my morning was 1pm in the afternoon.  
  
“Anything to eat round here?”  
  
She pointed over to a basket. “Got some cans of fruit open and a pot of oatmeal. There should be some left for you.”  
  
“Thanks.”  
  
I sat down at the table and grabbed a half full can of peaches – one of my favorites. I checked the pot of oatmeal and Carol was right; there was still about a cup left. As I quickly ate my meal I began to survey the room and look for Beth, and I didn’t see her in the common area. So, when I was finished, I headed up to her room and she wasn’t there either.  
  
“Strange,” I thought to myself.  
  
I walked over to Glenn and Maggie’s room, which they had blocked off with sheets. I knocked on the outside of the cell. I made a point to knock and announce myself every time I went to visit them in their room; you never knew with these two.  
  
“Anyone in there?”  
  
Glenn answered back quickly “Yeah.”  
  
“Y’all decent?” I jokingly asked.  
  
“No, I mean … yeah … it’s just me in here. Come on in Daryl.”  
  
I walked in to find Glenn resting on the cot; he sat up immediately when I entered the room.  
  
“Hey, what’s up Daryl?”  
  
“Sorry, man. Did I wake you?”  
  
“No, I was already up. I woke up to Judith screaming this morning … and then again with the kids downstairs … and then again when Maggie came in to ask me bout something. You know how it is.” Glenn smiled.  
  
“Sure do. These night shifts can be real rough sometimes.”  
  
Glenn nodded and rubbed his head and the sleep from his eyes.  
  
“So, what’s up, man?”  
  
“Oh nothin’, really. Jus noticed Beth wasn’t in her room, and neither was Judith. You seen em?”  
  
“Yeah. Umm … Maggie mentioned that she and Beth were headin’ outside to get some sun and fresh air for the baby.”  
  
“Fresh air, huh?”  
  
“Yeah. Why?”  
  
“Oh, nothin’…jus had somethin’ I needed to talk to Beth about. Well…guess, I’ll head outside and look for her.”  
  
“Hey … wait up!” Glenn shouted as I began to leave the room.  
  
Glenn jumped up and met me out on the walkway overlooking the common area. We talked for a few minutes before I heard the faint sound of Beth’s voice as she and Maggie entered the room below. I looked down and smiled as I watched Maggie and Beth as they held hands and walked over to one of the tables.  
  
“The girls are back.” I nodded letting Glenn know they were back from their walk.  
  
However, my smile was short-lived, when I realized the girls had been followed into the room by two of the new guys from Woodbury. Nick Foster and his younger brother, Mike. Both of em sauntered slowly into the room and I noticed that the older brother, Nick, had Judith tucked into his arms.  
  
“Here, I’ll take her now.” Beth raised her arms up; gesturing for Nick to hand her back the baby.  
  
My chest tightened – why the hell was that guy holdin’ Little Asskicker? I didn’t like that one bit. I loved that little girl and it hadn’t taken long for me to grow extremely protective of her. And, here was this asshole carryin’ her. What the hell was Beth thinkin’?  
  
“Sure, here ya go. She sure is a sweetheart.” Nick sat down next to Beth and handed her the baby.  
  
Beth smiled sheepishly. “She sure is.”  
  
Every second I grew more and more agitated, as I watched the girls carryin’ on with the brothers. They all seemed to be laughin’ at somethin’, when Nick reached over and brushed the hair from Beth’s face.  
  
“What the hell?” I mumbled under my breath.  
  
Glenn pushed me in the shoulder. “What’s up with you man?”  
  
“Oh, nothin.’ Sorry.”  
  
I tried my best to give me Glenn my full attention, but watching Nick touch Beth just made my blood boil. Don’t know why, but that pit in my stomach just started to get bigger and bigger - like an ache I’d never felt before. I rubbed my stomach to try and help cure the uneasiness that settled there. And, before I knew it, I found myself straining to hear what hell Maggie and Beth could possibly be talking to these boys about.  
  
“So, where’d you two come from exactly?” Maggie smiled.  
  
“Well, my brother and I were both stationed at Fort McPherson when the outbreak began.”  
  
Nick had a huge grin on his face as he engaged in the conversation with both Beth and Maggie. I felt like punching him in the face and knocking that stupid smile off of it. I don’t know why, but I jus didn’t like the look of these two. I really didn’t know much about em yet, just that they were brothers and were previously residents of Woodbury. But, one thing’s for sure - I definitely didn’t like em hangin’ round the girls.  
  
Beth chimed in excitedly, while rocking Judith in her arms.  
  
“Really? Fort McPherson? We heard there was a safe zone there.” Maggie continued.  
  
Nick had a huge grin on his face as he turned to answer Beth. I felt like punching him in the face and knocking that stupid smile off of it.  
  
“Nahh. Not anymore. Got overrun within two weeks. We had to …”  
  
I couldn’t hear the last part, since Glenn started waving his hands in front of me trying to get my attention.  
  
“Hey! _Daryl.”_  
  
“Wha … What?”  
  
“Oh, nothing … You just totally zoned out again.”  
  
“Sorry man. Just tired, I guess.”  
  
“Yeah, well, maybe you should get a few more hours of sleep.”  
  
I scratched the back of my head, “Yeah, maybe.” My glance turned back to the common area. Maggie had left and was making her way up the stairs.  
  
Maggie walked up to Glenn and stood beside him; intertwining her arm through his. “Hey, Daryl. What’s goin’ on you two? Seems like I interrupted.”  
  
“No. Just talking bout last night’s watch.”  
  
“Oh …”  
  
“Maggie … those two boys you and Beth were talkin’ to … what’s their deal?”  
  
“Nick and Mike?”  
  
“Yeah. How come they weren’t with The Governor when he attacked the prison? They look capable enough.”  
  
Maggie smiled, “Well, Nick was actually just tellin' us the their story. He said that him and Mike hooked up with the group at Woodbury bout the same Tyrese and Sasha arrived there. Since they were fairly new to the group, they decided to stay behind. Good thing too … otherwise they’d be dead for sure just like the rest of em.”  
  
“Hmm.”  
  
“And, I guess they were both in the army; stationed at Fort McPherson. Said it took less than two weeks before they were completely overrun and had to abandon the place. Can you believe that?”  
  
“Really … so, their soldiers?”  
  
“Yep. I think they’ll be a good addition here. We need some more people to help protect the group. They will be able to some of the work load off you boys.”  
  
Maggie smiled and patted Glenn on the chest. Maggie paused; waiting for my response, but I just stared back down to the tables where I watched Beth as she sat too close (in my opinion) to the older Foster brother, Nick. I could see Nick seemed to be paying an awful lot of attention to Beth. Seemed to be layin’ it on real thick. Whatever they were talkin’ bout now had Beth laughing; had them all laughin’.  
  
“Well, I like em.” Maggie smiled and nudged me in the arm. “They seem like they’re good guys.”  
  
“Well, I don’t trust em. Somethin’ bout them jus don’t sit right.” I gave Maggie a stern glare.  
  
Maggie quickly got defensive.  
  
“Geez, Daryl. Give em a chance. They both seem real nice.”  
  
“Don’t be so naïve Maggie.”  
  
“Well, I think you’re overreacting, Daryl. Plus, given that reasoning, we shouldn’t trust any of these people; including Tyrese and Sasha – and they seem to be good people. Hell ... we even took in Karen and she was a part of the prison raid."  
  
Glenn could tell Maggie was starting to get a little worked up, so he interjected trying to diffuse the conversation. “Come on, Daryl. Leave it alone already.”  
  
“What! I don’t like em – not one bit.” I sharply replied. “An jus because they weren’t here for  
the attack, doesn’t mean they didn’t know it was goin’ on. Doesn’t mean they didn’t agree with it.”  
  
“ _Jesus_ , Daryl.” By this time, Maggie's smile had turned into a bit of a frown and she seemed seriously annoyed at this point. I felt a little bad about being so stubborn, but I didn't think she realized why I was so concerned.  
  
I paused for a moment to collect my thoughts. I looked over at Glenn and his eyes were telling me to wrap up the conversation already.  
  
"Listen, Maggie. Merle told me _all_ the soldiers at Woodbury were real loyal to the Governor. I’m tellin’ you, I don’t think we should trust em’ … at least not yet.”  
  
Maggie took a deep breath and sighed. She knew I was just lookin' out for our group. She gave me a tight-lipped crooked smile, and walked a little closer to me. Her hand reached up and grabbed a hold of my forearm.  
  
“Come on, Daryl … " She paused. "Lighten up a little. I think we got a good group here. We need people now; you know that. And, Nick and Mike have military experience; they can really help out around here. Give em a chance, alright?”  
  
Maggie nudged me with her shoulder and gave me a big smile. I rolled my eyes and sighed loudly; realizing now that this conversation was going nowhere. So, I just gave her the answer she was looking for, smiled and nodded in agreement.  
  
“Yeah … sure, Maggie.”  
  
“Oh, yeah. I almost forgot why I came up here in the first place. Rick said he wanted to talk to you bout somethin’. Said you should meet him out front when yer ready.” Maggie paused. “Well, I’m gonna headin’ back down stairs. Gotta help daddy with a few things.”  
  
Maggie gave Glenn a big hug and then leaned over and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before turning to walk back towards the stairs. "I’ll see you two later, okay?”  
  
Before she could reach the stairs, Glenn called out to her.  
  
“Hey Maggie! Wait … I wanted to talk to you about somethin’ real quick. Can you come back here?”  
  
Maggie smiled and started to walk back to us, when Glenn whispered quietly to me.  
  
“Hey, you mind, Daryl? I gotta talk to Maggie. I’ll meet you in the yard; tell Rick I’ll be out in like 20 minutes?  
  
“Yeah … sure thing, Glenn.”  
  
Once Maggie was within arms distance, Glenn reached for her hand and pulled her into the cell, which I took as my cue to leave. As I walked down the stairs, I noticed that Beth, Judith and those boys were gone … didn’t see em anywhere.  
  
” _Damn!_ Where the hell they run off to?” I mused aloud.  
  
I made my way back to the front of the prison yard, where I could see Rick talking to Tyrese and Michonne. As I approached Rick and the others, I just kept thinkin’ to myself that maybe I was being overly cautious – maybe Maggie was right. I knew what this meeting with Rick was all about and I knew we could really use the extra help around the prison, but I just couldn’t shake the feelings that I was having - an Merle told me always to trust my gut. Said it always knows the truth; even if you don't want to admit it. And, I could tell that there was just somethin’ about these brothers that sounded off a loud warning inside me. I guess the younger brother, Mike, seemed quiet enough, but that Nick character …somethin’ bout him that made my stomach sour. The others might not see it, but I certainly did – he was definitely trouble.  
 **  
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo  
** **  
Beth POV -**  
  
I didn’t see Daryl all day today, and I was still feeling bad for the conversation getting so intense last night. I was kind of obsessing about it, actually. I should've known better. Although he may not seem it on the outside, Daryl is really sensitive. Although he’d probably hate for anyone to say so out loud - it was the truth! Underneath all that incredible strength, was a really deep and emotional guy. And, not only that … I knew that he still felt bad about Merle’s involvement with everything and that he was still really hurting over his death. I shouldn’t have brought it up. It wasn’t like me to unload on someone like that, and Daryl certainly didn’t deserve it. I decided that since I didn’t see him around today that I would head out after Judith fell asleep and catch up with him on his night watch.  
  
It had been dark for about 2 hours and Judith was fast asleep, so I slipped downstairs and made my way to our little pantry area. I decided I would bring Daryl and the rest of the night watch coffee again – a peace offering of sorts. Plus, it would give me an excuse to go outside and give me a chance to apologize to Daryl.  
  
I carefully loaded the tray with the coffees and marched outside. When I got out to the prison yard, I didn’t see anyone at first. That was until I saw the faint amber glow of a cigarette burning in the distance. I started to walk towards the Marlboro beacon and the shadowy figure that was beginning to emerge near the prison tower.  
  
“Hey there.” I shyly whispered. “Brought ya some coffee.”  
  
I raised the tray up and offered Daryl a drink.  
  
“Thanks, Beth. You didn’t have to do that.”  
  
“I know, but I also don’t want you fallen asleep out here either.” I nervously laughed as I waited to hear Daryl’s response.  
  
He reached out and grabbed one of the mugs from the tray. “Thanks.” He took a sip and then  
another long drag off his cigarette.  
  
We stood there in silence for a moment; suddenly I felt myself at a loss for words. And, I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, so every moment that passed made me more and more anxious.  
  
Finally, he spoke up.  
  
“I’ll take that or you can just set it down. You don’t gotta wait for the rest of em to come back here.”  
  
“No, it’s fine.” I set the tray down on the ground next to me. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you bout last night.”  
  
“Yeah? What about?” He took another drag from his cigarette and tossed it to the ground; stomping it out with the toe of his boot.  
  
“Well … I guess I just kinda feel bad about how heavy our conversation got last night. I didn’t mean for that to happen.”  
  
“No need to apologize, Beth.”  
  
“Well, I just felt real bad about it, that’s all. I had this yucky feelin’ in my stomach all day bout it.”  
  
Daryl laughed and sipped the coffee. He smiled at me and started to walk away.  
  
“Come here.”  
  
Daryl motioned for me to follow him over to one of the tables set up in the yard. I picked up my tray of coffees and set them on the table. Daryl patted his hand on the seat next to him.  
  
“Sit down, Beth.”  
  
I sat down next to Daryl and anxiously waited for what he had to say.  
  
“Listen, you ain’t got nothin’ to be sorry about.”  
  
“I do. I should’ve never brought up that stuff about Merle. That was rude; I shouldn’t have done it.”  
  
I really felt ashamed of my behavior the night before, so I looked away; down at my hands as they lay in my lap. Then, before I could say another word, Daryl had reached over and gently grabbed me by my chin; raising my face up so that our eyes met while he continued.  
  
“I’m the one who should apologize. Merle was my brother, and he was the cause of a lot of this trouble. So, ya ain’t got nothin’ to feel sorry for. Ya hear me?”  
  
“I do. It’s just …” I hesitated as I looked deeply into Daryl's eyes; searching for the words to say ... and then he gave me a soft smile and the words quickly found their way to my lips.  
  
I let out a deep sigh and continued.  
  
“I’ve just had this pit in my stomach _all day._ I felt like maybe you might be mad at me for bringin’ all that stuff up. ”  
  
“Nahh … how could I ever be mad at you?” He laughed. “You’ve don’t got a mean bone in your body. And ... all that stuff you said ... was true. Guess we we’re both feelin’ a little sorry today.”  
  
Daryl laughed again.  
  
“What do ya mean?” I asked curiously.  
  
“Just … I was feelin’ pretty bad about last night too. Had that same pit in my stomach. I was actually lookin’ for ya earlier today cause I wanted to talk to ya about it. So, I’m glad you came out tonight.”  
  
“Me too. So, you don’t mind if I keep ya company for a while? Promise I won’t be such a downer this time.”  
  
Daryl smirked, “Sure, I’d like that.”  
  
We sat in silence for a moment, when Daryl casually changed the topic of our conversation.  
  
“So … Maggie tells me you and her got to know those Foster brothers a little better today. What’s their deal?”  
  
"Oh! Nick and Mike? There alright I guess. They met up with me and Maggie when we were out on a walk with Judith earlier." Daryl nodded; obviously he wanted me to continue. "Well ... Nick was tellin’ me all about how him and his brother survived on their own this last year after being overrun at Fort McPherson.”  
  
“Oh, yeah?”  
  
“Yeah, it was some real compelling stuff.” I giggled remembering the conversation I had with the two of them.  
  
“What’s so funny?"Daryl nudged my shoulder.  
  
“It’s just … well, Nick seemed to think quite a lot of himself. He went on and on about all the _'zombies'_ they killed and he has apparently decided that he is ‘The world’s most badass zombie killer.’” I laughed again. “Those are his words – not mine.”  
  
Daryl and I both laughed for a while at the moniker Nick gave himself.  
  
“Wow! World’s most badass zombie killer. Imagine that … right here under our roof?”  
  
“Yeah, well, I didn’t want to burst his huge bubble, but he definitely isn’t the world’s most badass zombie killer.” I paused and more quietly added, “You are!”  
  
“Me! Nahh … I’m sure there are others out there with more skills than I have. I jus got this crossbow; been real lucky is all.”  
  
“Yeah, right, Daryl. We all know you’re pretty badass. And, the fact that you don’t think you are … well, it’s cute.”  
  
"Hmmm..." Daryl paused for a moment and pursed his lips a bit; thinking about his walker killing prowess.  
  
“So, you think I’m cute _and_ badass. I guess I can live with that …”  
  
I could feel that my cheeks were flushing and I felt hot all of a sudden. I got flustered, could Daryl actually be flirting with me? My heart skipped a beat at the thought of it! And, I couldn't help but flirt right back ...  
  
“Yeah … cute _and_ very badass!”  
  
I looked at Daryl smiled and looked away. I started to feel excited and nervous - just like I did with Jimmy the first time him and I were alone together in my room.  
  
Daryl smiled, but then I noticed his face got serious.  
  
“What’s that look for?”  
  
“Jus those boys … I don’t really like you hangin’ out with em.”  
  
“What do you care?” I said jokingly trying to lighten the mood again.  
  
“I don’t trust em, is all. And, I don’t think you should either.”  
  
“They seem nice enough to me.”  
  
“I’m tellin’ ya, Beth … I can see it in his eyes. The older one, Nick … he’s definitely trouble. But, I don’t think we should trust either of them.”  
  
“Geez, Daryl. I think you’re overreacting a little.”  
  
“That’s exactly what your sister said.” He laughed under his breath. “But, I don’t think I’m overreacting at all. I trust my gut, and my gut is tellin’ me that this guy is ‘off’. I want ya to promise me you’ll try and stay away from him.”  
  
 _“Come on, Daryl.”_  
  
“Promise me.”  
  
I studied his eyes to see if Daryl was being serious, and I could tell he really meant it.  
  
 _“Alright_ ... I’ll try an keep my distance.”  
  
“Good.” He paused and leaned back into the table behind us; letting his head tilt back. “Now that we got that settled. I had a question for you.”  
  
“Shoot.”  
  
“I talked to Rick earlier today, and it’s been decided. Glenn and I are going to be headin’ out on a run tomorrow.”  
  
“Okay …”  
  
“Hershel gave me a list of things he needs, Rick’s got a list of food, Carol’s got a list for some items the new residents need. An, I wanted to know if you needed anything for Judith.”  
  
“Well, Carol mentioned we were running low on formula And ... some baby clothes – she is gettin’ bigger every day.”  
  
“Is that it? How bout anything for you? You need anything?”  
  
“No, I don’t need nothin’ … don’t worry about me.”  
  
“Well, you may not need anything … but, is there anythin’ you wanted? I mean, I’m gonna be out anyways, so I can keep my eyes open for anything you might want.”  
  
“Well … I guess … if you come across a Butterfinger.”  
  
“A _Butterfinger?_ ”  
  
“Yeah, ya know? The candy bar?”  
  
Daryl laughed.  
  
”So, that’s it ... a candy bar?”  
  
“Yeah. They were my favorite … ya know, before. I can't even remember the last time I had one."  
  
“Alright. I’ll keep an eye out for em.”  
  
“Thanks. But, I mean, it’s not a big deal or anything. Don’t go getting’ yourself killed over it or anythin’.”  
  
I giggled and nudged his arm.  
  
“Don’t ya worry. Remember? I’m a badass walker killer … ya ain’t got nothin’ to worry bout.”  
  
We just sat there for the next couple of hours and talked.  
  
The really great thing about it was that we didn’t talk about anything serious, nothing important. No more talk about The Governor, walkers or anything else like that. We just talked like two regular people; shooting the breeze.  
  
I told him about what my life was like on the farm, what I studied in high school, and about how I spent much of my younger years singing in local talent contests and was planning on studying music when I went to college.  
  
Daryl talked about how he learned to hunt, how him and Merle would disappear into the woods for days, some of the adventures he had as a rebellious teen, and how one of the things he really missed was being able to have a cold beer.  
  
"Just something as simple as a cold beer. Damn! That would be nice on some of these hot Georgia nights we've had, wouldn't ya say?"  
  
"Oh! Well, I hadn't really ever drank before."  
  
"Yeah, I guess you're a little young for all that stuff." Daryl laughed.  
  
"Well, daddy didn't keep any liquor in the house., so it was never really around. But, one time when Maggie was a senior in high school, she had a few friends over one hot summer night. We were all up in the loft above the barn ... and ... I stole a few sips from her beer when she wasn't lookin'."  
  
"Well, well ... got a little rebellious streak in you after all."  
  
We both laughed. "Yeah, right! Some rebel I am. However ... I kinda wish we could have a cold beer right now. That would be somethin'."  
  
"Don't know if Hershel would like that; he might think I'm being a bad influence on you."  
  
 _"You? Never!"_ I batted my lashes, and bit my lip to try and stop the huge silly smile that was most definitely on face. "Well, I better head on in."  
  
When I stood up to go inside, Daryl reached up and grabbed my hand, “So … a Butterfinger, right?”  
  
I smiled. “Yep. Butterfingers ... Course if you come across any cold beer, I might be interested in that too.”  
  
He gave my hand a squeeze and winked. “Alright, Beth. I’ll see what I can do.”  
 **  
** **END CHAPTER FIVE**

**oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

### Author's Notes:

Again, I'm going with the slow build here for these two; trying to make their relationship grow into something more. I wanted it to feel as real as possible, so you all could really get a sense of how two people like Beth and Daryl could end up together give the right circumstances.

 

So, let me know what you think; **like it, love it, hate it** ... let me know your thoughts ;)

_**Chapter Five: Part Two Teaser:** So, I started out with just one chapter, but it got so long, I had to split it up ... sorry to keep the cliffhanger going. Daryl and Glenn's supply run goes from routine to_ _a seriously close call ..._

**And, if you're enjoying reading this story, please leave a comment or review on your way out ...  you know I love to hear from you all :-D**

xoxo,

Dahlia

****

**xoxo,  
Dahlia**   



	6. My Guardian: Chapter Five - Part Two

Hey Everyone!!

As always, I want to thank you everyone who is reading and Bookmarking this story .... I really appreciate it! And, a **Special Thank you to several "GUESTS" for leaving Kudos** on the last chapter - you rock!! Thank you, thank you!!

**Now back to our story ...**  
  
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo  
  
 **Daryl’s POV –**

“I’m gonna miss you. You be careful out there, ya hear me?” Maggie cooed as she wrapped her arms around Glenn.

Their goodbyes always took forever, so I was glad they got started early today. While they told each other ‘I love you’ for the millionth time, I continued to load the truck that Glenn and I were going to take on the supply run.

“Alright, guys.Enough already. _Geez.”_ I grumbled under my breath. “We gotta get on the road.”

“Truck’s ready?” Glenn calmly asked.

“Sure is. Are you ready?”

“Yeah ... sure.”

He mumbled some other stuff to Maggie, which I couldn’t hear. What I did hear was a faint voice coming from the prison.

“Hey, wait up.”

It was Beth; she was jogging down to the truck to meet us.

“Hey!” She managed to breathily squeak out; winded from her run through the prison and through the yard.

“Oh! Hey …”

Her breathing was still heavy from her exertion as she continued to speak.

“I … I wanted to give you this. Ya know? For good luck.”

Beth reached out and I could see she had something in her hand.

“What is it?” I looked at her questioningly.

She opened her hand and she was holding some kind of small plant.

“It’s a four-leafed clover. I found a patch of em growing near the fence.”

I reached out and picked up the clover; gently as to no crush the delicate leaves.

“All be damned. It sure is.” I looked at her and smiled. “How the hell’d you find that?”

“I saw the clover patch and there was actually a quite a few all bunched together.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah … so, I thought you could take it with you for good luck. I know you can take care of yourself, but … it can’t hurt, right?” She smiled sheepishly and looked down to the ground. She got so shy sometimes; it was real sweet.

“Well … thanks. I appreciate that.” I took the clover and placed it in the pocket of my shirt and buttoned it closed. “I’ll keep it with me … for good luck.”

“I know it’s silly … I just … I just want to make sure you …” She nodded towards Glenn. “And, Glenn make it back here in one piece.”

“We will. Don’t ya worry.” I reassured her.

Unexpectedly, she reached in and wrapped her arms around my waist and put her head against my chest. I held my hands up, not knowing exactly what to do with them before finally pulling her in for a hug.

She looked up at me with her big blue eyes; the look of concern bore deep from within her. Then, she released me from her embrace.

I went to walk away when she grabbed my hand and made a quiet request. “Just be careful, will ya?”

I replied with a sly smile and a wink. “Oh, I will.”  
 **  
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

Glenn and I had been on the road for about an hour when we passed by a CVS Pharmacy; had about a dozen walkers wandering around the parking lot.

“That’s probably our best bet for Hershel and Carol’s list.”

“Yeah, you want me to stop?”

“Nah, head up the road a little ways. Think I remember seeing a hardware store round here somewhere.”

We drove for about a half mile, when saw the sign for “Miles Hardware.”

“There it is – told ya.” I smiled; pleased with myself for remembering the place.

Glenn turned to me. “Looks like there aren’t too many walkers out front.”

I nodded.

As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, the few walkers that were out front immediately turned and headed for us. I jumped out of the car and picked off all four of them before Glenn made it to one; bashing in its head with a mallet.

“That was easy enough.” Glenn laughed in relief.

“Yeah. Now let’s see if Miles is home.” I nodded towards the hardware store.

I started to retrieve my bolts from each of the walkers I had killed; pulling them from their heads and shaking off the goo before putting them back into the holster.

Glenn and I quickly made our way to the building supply store. The door was locked, so I thumped my fist on the front window. Any walkers inside and they’d come runnin’ up to the front. Little trick we learned – at least we’d know how many we were dealing with before going into a place.

I knocked a few more times and nothing, no walkers. So, I took an axe we had in the truck and busted through the door.

“Anyone in here?” I yelled out. Hoping to call out any other walkers that might not have heard the knocking.

“Looks like its empty.”

“Alright, you got the list?”

“Yep.”

Glenn ran down one of the aisles, while I looked down and Rick had a bunch of shit listed: axes, wood, hammers, nails, lumber, hoe and gardening supplies, seeds, fertilizer, planters, etc.

“Damn! Got a lot of stuff on here.”

“Hey!” Glenn called out. “There’s a wheel barrel here. Let’s fill the supplies in here; it’ll be easier to transport.”

“Nice!” I smiled – that would make this run a little easier.

We loaded up all the items and returned back to the truck. A few more walkers had found their way to the parking lot, but I quickly dispatched of each of them with a bolt to each of their heads. Glenn loaded the supplies in the truck and we lifted the wheel barrel into the flatbed. We went back in several more times and grabbed as much lumber as we could and loaded it into back of the truck.

“There … that should be enough to get things started. And, if we need more, we now where to come back to.”

I smiled and wiped the sweat from my brow. I looked around; keeping an eye out for any straggler walkers and didn’t see any.

“Alright, what’s next?” Glenn asked.

“Hershel’s list, some items Carol wanted and a couple of things for Judith. Let’s head back to that CVS and finish up.”

Glenn nodded and hopped into the truck, and we drove down the road back to the CVS Pharmacy.

“Should be some good shit in here. Got a lot of walkers though.” I chewed at the skin around my thumb as I counted the walkers surrounding the place. I counted 20 and that was quite a few for just me and Glenn. We’d taken on more, we just needed to be careful bout it.

“Alright. I got ten bolts. I’m gonna take out some of the walkers closest, you go in and I’ll be right behind you.”

We pulled the truck in as close and quietly as we could. Glenn turned off the engine and I jumped out and started picking em off one by one. There was walker blood and goo everywhere. I was out of bolts; killing off some of the last walkers when I saw Glenn was getting into trouble with a very large walker. The walker was really wrestling with Glenn, trying to bite him. I didn’t have any bolts and none close by that I could retrieve, so I pulled out my pistol and shot the walker in the head; nearly taking the whole guys head off.

Glenn looked a little flustered by his close call.

“Thanks. That was a close one.”

“What happened?”

I listened while I grabbed my bolts from the walkers; Glenn looked shook up.

“He grabbed me from behind and I dropped the mallet. I spun around before he could bite me, but I had to use both hands to keep him off me; couldn’t get to my knife.”

“Well, hey. That’s what I’m here for – to watch your back, right?”

“Right.” He exhaled deeply.

I wanted to make sure he was ready for the next round of walkers that could be waiting for us behind the sliding doors of the CVS.

“Ya ready to head in?”

Glenn didn’t say nothin’, he just nodded yes.

“Alright. Let’s do this.”

I walked up the closed sliding glass doors. I knocked loudly on the glass several times. We waited for about three or four minutes before I took an axe to the glass; shattering the door into a million pieces.

We walked over the broken glass and noticed that the place looked like it had been looted, but there was still plenty of stuff on the shelves.

“Glenn, head back to the pharmacy. Here’s the list of medical supplies Hershel wanted. Go ahead and grab any other medicine or antibiotics left behind.”

Glenn nodded and walked briskly down aisle one towards the back of the store; towards the pharmacy. I walked down one of the aisles; had shoes, fleece jackets, socks, underwear, all kinds of clothing. Not the nicest, but it would due. I grabbed a basket and threw in as much as the basket and my arms could hold. I threw the clothing in the back of the truck. On my way back in, Glenn passed by me. He had three baskets filled with pills, cough and cold medicine, first aid stuff, and another basket … filled with …

I stopped and grabbed Glenn’s arm. “The hell ya doin’?” I laughed.

“What?” I nodded down to his basket. “Oh, the condoms? What?" He smiled. "There not as easy to come by these days as you would think.”

We both laughed and I headed back in.

Next aisle I hit up was the baby aisle. This kinda stuff was really not my thing - never had been around babies before Judith. But, I was getting the hang of it, now that I was Uncle Daryl I had started familiarize myself with some of the terminology on the list: wipes, baby powder, diapers – lots of them, formula, baby food –canned and packaged, teething ring, pacifiers – lots, etc. I used a sweep of my arm to just pull all the baby items off the shelves and dump them into the basket. I even picked up some baby clothes, wash cloths, a few toys and books that they had on a rack nearby.

Passed by the liquor aisle and grabbed a few 24 packs of beer from the old refrigerated cases and tossed em underneath the basket, and even threw in several bottles of Jack Daniel’s in with the baby stuff.

“That should do it.” I said to myself.

I walked towards the front of the store and noticed that walkers were filing into the store one right after the other.

Glenn walked up behind me and looked at the army of walkers that were now entering the store.

“Must of heard the gunshot. Damn!”

“Hey, I got the rest of the stuff … let’s get the hell out of here. There’s a back door near the pharmacy.”

Glenn grabbed the basket and we carefully made our way to the back. We encountered a few of the walkers, which I put a well placed knife in their skull; sending them to the floor. As we got to the back door, I noticed that the candy aisle was just a couple of aisles over.

Glenn opened the back door. “It’s all clear. Come on.” Glenn waved for me to exit the store, and I remembered that I promised Beth to look for her Butterfingers.

“ _Damn! Should’ve gotten those first.”_ I mumbled to myself.

“What? Come on, Daryl! We gotta go.”

I shook my head no. “Go on; wait by the door … or outside if ya need to. I’ll be right back.”

I made my way for the candy aisle and knifed a few walkers before finding my way to the junk food aisle. Chips, cookies, candy bars – you name it. I searched the shelving looking for the yellow packaging that Butterfingers come in, and I couldn’t see it.

”The hell?”

It was like they had every other kind, but Butterfingers.

A walker stumbled up to me, which I knifed in the brain.

“ _Come on!”_

Then, I noticed the whole herd was making there way down each end of the aisle.  
 _  
“Fuck!”_

I looked to see which way had the fewest walkers and they both seemed to be at least a dozen deep. I looked around for an exit strategy and grabbed a hold of the shelf and pulled myself to the top. The walkers converged on the ground in a pack below me; moaning and reaching up trying to grab at my feet.

I balanced along the top of the shelving; hoping it wouldn’t give way to my weight and quickly made it to the front of the store which was now clear of walkers. I quickly jumped off the shelving and as I ran towards the door I noticed a rack of candy bars near the register. And, to my great surprise – there they were; a whole box of Butterfingers. I quickly grabbed the box along with a few other boxes of candy bars and ran out the door to the truck where Glenn was waiting.

I threw the candy bars in the cab of the truck and ran around to meet Glenn at the back of the truck. Not one minute later some of the walkers that had followed us into the store were now making their way back outside. So, reached for the bottom the basket and had Glenn help me throw it in the back of the truck, closed the gate and jumped in the cab of the truck.

 

“Come on, let’s get the hell out of here!”

As soon as we were both inside, a bunch of walkers had wandered over the truck and started beating on the front of the truck; one growling and clawing at the driver’s side window.

_“Motherfucker!”_ Glenn yelled and slammed his hand down hard on the steering wheel as he quickly started the truck and sped off in reverse, managing to run over the foot of the walker that had been banging on his window and now it was hobbling around with it’s foot crushed, splayed out to the side.

We both exhaled a sigh of relief as we made our way back in the direction of the prison, but it didn’t take Glenn long before he started in on me.

“What the hell was that?” He didn’t try to hide the fact that he was seriously pissed.

“Nothin’.”

I looked over at him as calmly as I could; trying to hide my motivations for almost becoming walker lunch.

“What do you mean, nothing? You almost got yourself killed going back in there. What the hell did you get, anyways?”

“Just got a few things that weren’t on the list.”

“Oh! Like the Jack Daniel’s and beer?”

“Somethin’ like that.”

“Well, what was it?”

“Nothin’, man. Leave it alone.”

I rolled down the window to let in some fresh air.

Glenn reached down to the floor boards of the truck.

“What the hell are these? Candy bars?” He picked up one of the Butterfingers and held it up. “Is _this_ what you went back in for? Are you nuts!”

“Yeah, so what.” I tried to brush it off.

“You almost got yourself killed for some candy bars. _Really?_ What the hell, Daryl?”

Glenn paused and just stared at me – irritated. Then, he pulled the truck over.

“Alright. Out with it.”

“Come on, man. Just get back on the road. I wanna get back before dark.”

“No. Not until you tell me why the fuck you would pull a stunt like that. It’s not like you.”

“What’s not like me?”

“To be so careless. And, for what? A candy bar? What’s goin’ on with you? You got a death wish or somethin’?”

Glenn was obviously looking into this more than he needed to, so I just told him …

“They’re for Beth.” I said quietly as I looked away and scratched the back of my head.

Glenn just stared at me with a puzzled look on his face.

“For Beth?” He didn’t seem to believe me.

“Yeah. For Beth. That alright with you?”

“Okay. It’s just not …”

I interrupted him.

“I know, I know. It’s not like me to do stupid shit like that.” I paused. “It’s jus that Beth said they were her favorite … and … she hadn’t had one since this whole thing started. Thought I’d surprise her.”

“Oh? Okay.” Glenn shook his head. Although he was even more confused by my answer, he went ahead and pulled the truck back onto the road and we continued to make our way home.

“So, you risked your life to get chocolate for Beth – that was … very sweet of you, Daryl.”

“Shut up …” I rolled my eyes as he continued to tease me about my little misadventure.

“You’re never gonna live this one down.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know.”  
 **  
END CHAPTER FIVE - PART TWO**

**ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

### Author's Notes:

So, let me know what you think; **like it, love it, hate it .**.. let me know your thoughts. **You know I love to hear from you :-D**

_**Chapter Six Teaser:**_ _Daryl has a surprise for Beth, but when he gets back he sees something that he doesn’t really like. Beth spends some time with Nick, and we get a glimpse into this new character’s personality._

If you're enjoying this story, definitely make sure to **take a moment to Bookmark this story and leave a comment on your way out ;-D** It keeps me writing and keeps the chapters coming!!

xoxo,  
Dahlia


	7. Chapter Seven

Hey y'all :)

As always, thank you to everyone who is reading and following this story. 

And, a **Special Thank you to deni269 for commenting on this last chapter**... I really appreciate it :) And, a Special Thank you to those of you that left KUDOS on this last chapter ... you all seriously rock! You made my day!  
 **  
Author’s Note:** I will be writing this chapter from Maggie and Glenn’s POV, so that you (the reader) can get a sense of what the others are perceiving about what is developing between Daryl and Beth. (I did this in Maggie’s Nightmare, and I found it helpful to add these extra POVs to paint a better picture).  
 **  
Now, back to our story ...**  
 **  
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**  
  
 **Glenn’sPOV –**  
  
“Think I’m gonna head over to Cell Block D. Karen mentioned one of the kids wasn’t feelin’ well. I’m gonna go check on him … I’ll see you two kids later.” Hershel stood up and grabbed his crutches. “You too, Carol.”  
  
“Alright, Hershel. See ya later.” Carol replied; not even giving Hershel a second look as she continued to play with Judith.  
  
Maggie and I looked at each other; our eyes darted across the table at each other, and we both laughed a little under our breath. We didn’t have to say a word – we knew exactly what the other was thinking. Carol had a little bit of ‘baby fever’ when Judith arrived. And, if Judith was in her arms – no one else existed.  
  
Carol continued on whispering ‘baby talk’ to Judith, while she rocked her and smoothed her hair back.  
  
“Hello, sweetheart. Look at you! You’re getting so big, now aren’t you?”  
  
Maggie and I just looked at each other and smiled again. We just found it so amusing. Carol was totally enamored with Judith. I mean, we all were … but, Carol … she definitely was in love with this little baby.  
  
Shortly after Hershel left, Carol decided she was going for a walk with the baby.  
  
“I’m just gonna walk around a bit. If Beth comes back, you tell her I shouldn’t be long.”  
  
“No problem, Carol.” I replied.  
  
After Carol was out of the cell block, I leaned over to Maggie.  
  
“It’s a shame she can’t have another one of her own.”  
  
Maggie’s relaxed smile tensed.  
  
“Another one?”  
  
Her eyebrows were raised now, which was definitely not a good sign. Only meant one thing – Maggie was irritated. Well, either irritated or scared. Maybe it was a little bit of both, going by the look in her eyes.  
  
“Do you really think _now_ would be a good time to have a kid?”  
  
“Well, I mean, we all seem to be doing fine here with little Judy.”  
  
“Yeah, but Lori died to bring Judith into the world. I was there … it was horrible. Do you really think that any of us can risk that now?”  
  
I really hadn’t meant anything by it, but obviously Maggie was upset.  
  
“Hey, hey … calm down. I agree with you. I know it’s dangerous.”  
  
Maggie’s face relaxed just a little bit. I think she realized that she was intensely overreacting. And, to be honest, she’d been doing that a lot lately. I just figured it was due to the stress of everything that had happened to us at Woodbury. I mean, I still had cuts and bruises that still hadn’t healed from the whole ordeal – Maggie too.  
  
“Sorry. It’s just I think it’s too risky to have a kid, ya know? With the world the way it is … I just don’t think that any of us should be thinkin’ about havin’ kids.”  
  
“No, I know. It’s just … well, I was really just trying to say that I think Carol really misses Sophia. And, she’s such a great mom … it’s too bad she can’t have another one. That’s all. I wasn’t really suggesting that she should do it.”  
  
“Oh? …well, in that case … I definitely agree with you. Carol is a great mom, and I’m sure she does miss Sophia. It’s too bad Sophia isn’t here with her now.” Maggie paused. “And, it is too bad that the world is the way it is and that she couldn’t have another child.”  
  
“It really is.” I paused and reached across the table and grabbed Maggie’s hand. “It’s too bad for all of us.”  
  
Maggie squeezed my hand and smiled.  
  
We had talked about it on many occasions; how we had both wanted kids before the world went to shit. I told Maggie that if things were different, I’d love to have a little house with her and raise a family. Teach our sons to play baseball, and take my daughters to dance class … or, whatever else they wanted to do. And, Maggie confided in me one night that at one point in her life she even had names picked out for her ‘future kids’ and she had dreamed of doing all of those things with me too. She just couldn’t see that happening now; not the way things were.  
  
And, I agreed with her … for the most part. But, it's not like we had to worry about that right this second anyways; it had been a while since we had sex last - since before we were kidnapped and taken to Woodbury.  
  
I tried to lighten up the conversation a little.  
  
“Well, were talkin’ about her maybe havin’ another baby. It’s not like she even has someone to have the baby with. Guess she would need to figure that out first, right?”  
  
Maggie smiled playfully and opened a bag of Planter’s Peanuts that I had brought back from our supply run. Before I left she had mentioned she had a craving for them, so I made sure to grab them while we were out.  
  
“Putting the cart a little before the horse, I guess …” Maggie and I both started to laugh.  
  
Maggie leaned across the table and whispered. “Well, between me and you … I think she’s got a little thing for Daryl.” She leaned in closer until we were almost nose to nose. “In fact … I think they’ve been sneakin’ around behind all our backs this whole time. I mean, I’ve seen them flirt with each other … like a thousand times. And, you’re gonna tell me that haven’t gotten it on? _Bull shit!”_  
  
I laughed. Maggie had a way with tellin’ like it is. But, after my last supply run, I had my doubts about Carol and Daryl. Although everyone seemed to think they had a little somethin’ goin’ on; I was starting to see that maybe we had it all wrong with these two. Maybe they were ‘just friends’. It’s all they ever said about the topic whenever anyone ever asked in jest about the two of them.  
  
“Well … I don’t know about that.”  
  
“Why? What don’t you know?” Maggie seemed intrigued. “Daryl tell ya somethin’?”  
  
“No, no. It’s not like that.”  
  
Maggie was on to me; I could never hide anything from her. She prodded me for more details.  
  
“Well, out with it!”  
  
“It’s just … well, on this last run …”  
  
I scratched the back of my head; I didn’t really know how to bring it up … or, if I even should bring it up.  
  
“Yeah? What about your last run?”  
  
“It’s just, well … we got into some _trouble._ ”  
  
“What kind of trouble?”  
  
I could see Maggie was immediately worried, and I hated to do that to her. “Trouble” and “supply run” were two words that should never be said in the same sentence. I told her that I was fine and that I was never really in any danger. However, Daryl on the other hand, had gotten himself into some trouble … and he was careless about it too.  
  
“What do ya mean, Daryl got himself into trouble? That’s not like him at all.”  
  
“I know.” I continued to tell Maggie the entire story.  
  
“So, basically you’re tellin’ me that Daryl almost got himself killed over a Butterfinger … for Beth? You gotta be freakin’ kidding me?”  
  
“Shhh!” I tried to quiet her down. “ _Yes, he did!_.”  
  
“No way. You’re joking!”  
  
“I’m not! I swear. And, when I questioned him about it on the way back to the prison, he got all “Daryl” on me. He just kinda shut down.”  
  
Maggie looked on eagerly waiting for me to continue.  
  
“Oh, come on. You know how he is. He shuts down when you bring up emotional topics with him. It’s the truth! He does …”  
  
“Yeah, no, I know.”  
  
“I think … I think he might have a little ‘thing’ for your sister … for Beth.”  
  
“No way! You’re nuts, Glenn. You’re more nuts than this peanut!”  
  
Maggie laughed and through a peanut from the bag she’d been eating out of. Hit me right in the head.  
  
“I’m serious … you should have seen how quiet he got when I questioned him about it. I’m tellin’ you … I think he likes her.”  
  
“Of course he likes Beth. We’re all close here. He was probably just tryin’ to do somethin’ nice for her.”  
  
“You weren’t there, Maggie. I’m tellin’ you he “ _likes her”_ likes her. I could see it in his face.”  
  
“No, you’re way off base. What about him and Carol?”  
  
”I don’t know about him and Carol. But, I’ll tell ya one thing … no ones ever seen the two of them together like that; and they’ve always maintained they were just friends.”  
  
Maggie settled back into her seat and got comfortable and put her legs up on the table.  
  
“I mean, Beth might have a little crush on Daryl.” She gave me a mischievous grin. “I could see that; I mean what girl doesn’t? He is _quite the catch_.”  
  
Maggie laughed.  
  
“He is! He’s a good guy.” I replied in Daryl’s defense.  
  
“I know he is; I’m not joking about that. Daryl’s great! He’s an amazing guy. And, to tell you the truth; I’d love it if Daryl and Beth got together. My sister is a sweetheart and she deserves a great guy, and Daryl is the best. But … I don’t think Daryl looks at Beth like that. But, if he did; I’d be happy for her … for the both of them. Wouldn’t you?”  
  
“Of course, I would. It’s just … well, I never would’ve guessed those two hookin’ up.”  
  
“Well, I don’t think they are. I still think you’re wrong about that. Yes, it’s a little weird that he risked his life for a candy bar, but I still think you’re wrong.”  
  
She laughed and smiled.  
  
“Well, Glenn, my love … that was quite the story.”  
  
“What was quite the story?” Carol’s voice called out as she entered back into the Cell Block C.  
  
She walked over and sat down next to Maggie.  
  
“Oh, nothin’. Glenn was just tellin’ me here how Daryl almost became dinner for a bunch of walkers on their last run.”  
  
Carol’s face frowned. “That’s terrible. What happened?”  
  
“Glenn said that Daryl risked his life … for some Butterfingers.”  
  
Carol looked completely confused.  
  
“Butterfingers? Why the hell would he do that?”  
  
“Guess he promised he’d get some for Beth. It’s supposed to be a surprise, so don’t say anything to her.”  
  
Maggie giggle a bit and continued to eat from the bag of peanuts she had in her hand.  
  
Carol’s lips pursed into a semi-smile.  
  
“Butterfingers, huh? I mean, they are delicious, but that sounds quite risky for a little ole candy bar, doesn’t it?”  
  
“I don’t know, Carol. Daryl’s pretty capable. I’m sure he knew exactly what he was doing and wasn’t really in any danger. I think Glenn is just exaggerating.”  
  
Maggie winked at me. I just smiled and nodded at Carol. I went along with the whole ‘exaggeration’ theory. But, I wasn’t exaggerating. Daryl really did risk his life for those damn candy bars, whether Maggie believed me or not.  
 **  
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**  
  
 **Maggie’s POV –**  
  
Glenn, Carol and I were all still sittin’ at the table when we heard the door to the prison yard swoosh open and then slam close very loudly. We all looked up expecting to see one of the guys walking in, but there she was … my little sis, Beth. And, from the looks of her; she seemed like she was very upset.  
  
“Hey, Beth. Everythin’ alright?”  
  
“Sure … I’m fine.” She lied.  
  
Beth found her way over to the table and sat before me. When she looked up at me, I could tell something was definitely bothering her. I knew that look; I’d seen it before.  
  
“Hey?” I smiled and put my arm around her shoulder. “Come on, everything okay?”  
  
“No … I’m fine.” She seemed deep in thought.  
  
“Seriously, Beth?” My eyebrows arched eye; prodding her to explain what was going on with her.  
  
“That’s it?”  
  
She took a couple of deep breaths before finally responding.  
  
“It’s nothin’ really. I was just outside and well …it’s Daryl. Guess he is just in a bad mood or somethin’.”  
  
“Really? Why do you say that?” Carol interjected curiously.  
  
“Like I said, it’s nothin’. He was just … well? … Kinda bein’ a little mean, if ya ask me.”  
  
I looked over at Carol; she looked genuinely concerned. Then, my eyes caught Glenn’s; he raised his brows. I wasn't sure if Daryl’s lousy mood was due to his close call yesterday or if it was something else. What I did know, was that the look on Glenn’s face told me that he wanted me keep quiet about the whole run in with the walkers and the Butterfinger Incident, as it would later be called. I didn’t know what the big deal was, but I knew Glenn had wanted me to keep it under wraps for right now – so I did.  
  
“Well, what happened? Ya can’t just come in here and tell me that Daryl was mean to ya and not tell me what happened.”  
  
"No, it’s nothin’. Alright?” She paused and thought for a moment. “I don’t really want to talk about it, if ya don’t mind.”  
  
I looked over at Carol. She still had the same look of concern on her face. She followed up with Beth, to see if she could remedy the situation. “Sure, you’re alright? But, you seem kinda upset.”  
  
“No, I’m fine, everyone. Really. It’s not a big deal.”  
  
Beth looked over at Glenn; she seemed to have realized something while sitting there.  
  
“You sure nothin’ happened out there yesterday?”  
  
Glenn almost spit out the water he had in his mouth.  
  
“Ummm. No. It went great. Why?”  
  
“Jus askin’, is all. I thought maybe that had somethin’ to do with it.”  
  
“No, no. We were good. No trouble at all.”  
  
Glenn, Carol and I all looked at each other with a knowing gaze. Carol nodded to me; motioning for me to come take Judith. So, I got up and walked over and scooped her up in my arms.  
  
I cradled her in my arms for a moment before scrunching my nose as if I smelled something in her diaper and held my arms out; giving her back to Beth.  
  
“Beth? Why don’t you take Judith up? I think she might need to be changed.”  
  
“I just changed her!”  
  
Beth giggled and laid Judith against her chest and patted her back.  
  
“Maybe she just peed a little - I’ll check her.”  
  
As she started for the stairs, she called over to me.  
  
“Maggie! Ya mind bringin’ up that box of baby supplies to my room?”  
  
I looked over at Carol and Glenn; they both looked as relieved as I felt. There was obviously some weirdness going on between Beth and Daryl; I just really couldn’t figure it out. I know Glenn thought maybe there was something going on between them – romantically speaking, but I wasn’t convinced.  
  
“Sure, Beth. Be up in a second.” I looked over at Carol. “Hey, Carol. Where did you and daddy put that box of baby supplies Daryl and Glenn got back?”  
  
Carol pointed to Cell Block B and smiled.  
  
“Thanks.”  
  
I gave Glenn a kiss on the forehead and got up from the table.  
  
“I’ll be back later to finish this conversation.”  
  
As I walked away, I could already hear Carol grilling Glenn about the supply run.  
  
I really didn’t know what to think about Daryl risking his life to surprise Beth, but I was sure Carol would have a thing or two to say about …  
 **  
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**  
  
 **Glenn’s POV –**  
  
Shortly after Maggie left, Carol and I heard someone else walk in through the main prison entrance. The door closed shut and from the darkness of the hallway, I could see one of the new guys come in, Nick, I think.  
  
He sauntered in as if he owned the place. His combat boots echoed in the prison as he walked closer and closer to us. Finally, he was right next to our table, pulled his leg up and put his foot on one of the empty chairs.  
  
“Either of you two seen my brother, Mike?”  
  
A mischievous smile crossed his face; he looked like he just got away with something. He always kinda managed to look like a jerk ... his general demeanor was just unpleasant.  
  
Carol immediately chimed in. “No, haven’t seen your brother this morning. However, I did hear  
Tyrese askin’ around for able bodied men for some of the construction projects we got going on around here. You might wanna take a look on the East side of the prison, outside of Cell Block B. I think they might be over there right now.”  
  
Carol smiled pleasantly at Nick.  
  
“Thanks, doll.” Nick nodded to Carol and started to walk off towards Cell Block B.  
  
Once he was out of ear shot, I leaned over and nudged Carol.  
  
“What’s up with that guy anyways? You know much about him and his brother?”  
  
“I don’t really know him or his brother that well, but they seem nice enough. Why?”  
  
“I don’t know. Just somethin’ feels … a little off.”  
  
“Really? I don’t know about that. Plus, I think we’re all entitled to be a little “off” these days – don’t cha think?” Carol laughed.  
  
I smiled. She was right. I mean, who was I to judge someone’s people skills that hadn’t been around actual living and breathing people for as long as him and his brother did.  
  
“Guess you’re right, Carol.”  
  
She smiled. “I know; I usually am.”  
 **  
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**  
  
 **Maggie’s POV –**  
  
When I entered the storage area, I looked around and saw that the room was filled with boxes stacked from the floor to the ceiling.  
 _  
Shit. Where is it?_  
  
As I sifted through the boxes and moved others around, I came across one filled with liquor.  
 _  
The hell? They brought back alcohol? I wonder whose idea that was?_  
  
After a few minutes, I finally came across the box marked ‘baby’ on it.  
 _  
‘Ha!’ I said out loud to myself._  
  
I opened the top and sure enough there were several large packages of diapers, wipes, creams, powders lotions and about two dozen cans of formula. I pulled one of the smaller empty boxes to the floor and began to fill it with some of the items I thought Beth might need for Judith this week.  
  
“Hi Maggie.”  
  
 _“Jesus!”_ I looked up over my shoulder and Nick was standing over me. “You scared me!”  
  
“Sorry bout that.” He smiled.  
  
“I didn’t even hear you walk up.” I exhaled deeply a few times; my nerves shot. “You shouldn’t go sneakin’ up on people like that.”  
  
“I wasn't sneakin’ up on you; you just didn’t hear me.” He paused and looked down at the box filled with items for Judith. “Looks like you were preoccupied. Got babies on your brain, from the looks of it.”  
  
He smiled devilishly as if he had caught on to something.  
  
“Well, I guess I was preoccupied.” I threw the last can of formula in the box and closed it. “But, I definitively do not have babies on the brain; that’s for sure.”  
  
Nick seemed intrigued. “No?”  
  
I pretended that I was irritated and sarcastically responded . “Not that it’s any of your business, but no.”  
  
“Huh? I would’ve pegged you for the mommy-type.”  
  
“Mommy-type?”  
  
“Yeah. I mean … you and Glenn and like married right?”  
  
“Right … And? …”  
  
“So, I would’ve thought you’d be the type of gal that would want babies. That’s all.”  
  
I pursed my lips and arched my brows, as my fake irritation grew to real irritation.  
  
“Well, it’s not that I don’t like babies. I love them. It’s just I don’t really think this is the time or place to be having babies is all.”  
  
“I guess.” Nick looked around and threw his hands up. “Look around you though … things are good here. We’ve got everything we could ever want or need. Protection; food; water … a chance for a real life. What more could you want?”  
  
“I know it seems great now. It’s just …” I paused. I hadn’t wanted to get so personal with this guy. I mean, I hardly knew him and I was discussing why I didn’t want to have kids with my husband?  
  
“It’s just what? Come on, tell me. I’m curious.” I gave me a big smile. “Please…”  
  
“Well, I guess it’s not out of the question. But, things have just quieted down for us, and we’re just now getting on our feet and building towards something. And, after everything that happened here, I …”  
  
“You mean with The Governor?”  
  
“Yeah, with him …” I paused as I certainly wasn’t going to go into the details of that night with him. “I just don’t know how safe any place can be … the living have caused just as much harm as the dead.”  
  
His smile faded from his face; he seemed to understand.  
  
“But, how long can you live your life in fear? If you can’t really ‘live’ … then, what are you fighting so hard for every day?”  
  
I was a little taken back by his comments; I hadn’t expected him to be so philosophical.  
  
“I suppose.” I smiled and brushed the hair away from my face. “You do have a point there Nick.”  
  
“Well, thank you.” He seemed pleased with himself. Not in an arrogant way; he just seemed happy that he helped.  
  
And, he did help me. Well, he helped me to realize something that I already knew deep down inside. The more I thought about it, the more I realized just how much I had been struggling with topics like that ever since Woodbury. I couldn’t see bringing a child into this world; not with all the walkers and everything else I’d experienced with the living. But, maybe someday, I’d feel different.  
  
“Yeah, maybe someday …”  
  
“Sure … and, ya never know? Might be sooner than you think?”  
  
“Well, I don’t know about that, but maybe … in time.”  
  
He nodded and looked at the ground and tilted his head and sized up the box on the floor.  
  
“Ya want any help with that? It looks heavy.”  
  
“No, thank you though.”  
  
“Alright, well then I’m just gonna head out then. Hoping my brother’s outside with Tyrese.”  
  
“Yeah. I think he is actually. I think Tyrese recruited him for some construction they got going on just outside here.”  
  
“That’s what I heard … see ya later then.”  
  
I quickly grabbed the box of baby stuff and briskly walked back to Cell Block C and passed right by Glenn and Carol who were still sitting at the table. I dropped the box with Beth who was playing with Judith, and rushed back downstairs and grabbed Glenn’s hand.  
  
“Come on.”  
  
I pulled him to his feet and towards the stairs.  
  
Glenn looked really confused. “Wait, where are we going?”  
  
I bit my lip and responded. “I just wanna talk to you … in private, okay?”  
  
Glenn gave me a funny face. He knew what I was suggesting, but I don’t think he fully believed it.  
  
It had about a month since Woodbury and everything that had happened with The Governor. Glenn had been really supportive and understanding, and didn’t even suggest that we have sex. Hell, he hadn’t even brought up the topic yet.  
  
All Glenn knew was that The Governor had hurt me and I wasn't ready to have sex yet. But, the reality was that it had been over a month since were intimate - about a week or two before Woodbury to be exact. And, since we got back, Glenn had made a point not to rush me; he knew something was off with me - he just didn't know how bad it had been and how 'off' I really was.  
  
I had felt especially terrible, since I had kept a secret from Glenn. I hadn't told him everything that happened at Woodbury with The Governor; he didn't know the whole truth, and I didn't want him too. I didn't want him to know all of the awful things he had done to me; I just wanted to forget it ever happened. But, hiding things from Glenn and lying to him also made me feel distant from him. With all of that running through my mind, it's no wonder that I wasn't ready to be intimate yet.  
  
But, after talking with Nick, I realized something very important ... something that really struck a nerve with me.  
  
And, I realized that I didn’t want anyone – not The Governor, the walkers, or anyone else to affect how I lived my life. And, that was it … I had to fight everyday to live, and if I’m not doing it for love, my family and my future – then what the hell am I doing it for?  
  
Glenn and I arrived back at our cell and I pulled the blankets down to cover our cell for privacy.  
  
“What are you doing?”  
  
I pulled off my shirt and began to kiss him. We lost ourselves in each other for a moment, before Glenn pulled away.  
  
“Are you sure? Are you sure you’re ready?”  
  
I smiled and ran my hand threw his hair and on the back of his neck. He looked deep into my eyes and I could see just how much Glenn really did love me. And, I loved him. I felt like a weight had been lifted from me, and I decided that I wasn’t going to live my life in fear anymore; not when each day could be your last.  
  
“Yes, I’m sure.” I pulled him close and kissed him hard again.  
  
And, it was then … in the middle of the day, after a conversation with basically a stranger that I realized that I was still fighting for something – a future with Glenn; a future with all of the possibilities a married couple share.  
  
“I love you, Glenn. I want to be with you.”  
  
He smiled as I pulled off his shirt.  
  
“I love you too, Maggie.”  
  
Before long we were both naked and on a blanket on floor of our cell. It had been so long since we’d been intimate; it almost felt like the first time again. Every kiss and every caress sent chills down my body; like electricity. We took our time and took it slow. With every moment that passed, I could feel us getting closer and closer; back to the way things were before everything had happened – before my nightmare at Woodbury.  
  
With every kiss, I remembered the trust we shared. And, as he touched my body; I could feel all of my fear and apprehension falling farther and farther away from me. Instead, I felt the enormous love and passion I had for him as I finally let Glenn inside of me again.  
  
And, for the first time in more than a month, Glenn and I made love.  
 **  
END CHAPTER SEVEN**

**oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

### Notes

Well, it's good news for the time being for Glenn and Maggie! But, I know everyone is still wondering what's up with Daryl and Beth ... the last time they talked things were tense ...  
  
However, I felt the story needed some different perspectives – especially, from Glenn and Maggie, who you can tell from this chapter are just now getting a sense that there might be something going on with Daryl and Beth. And, at the same time are still trying to figure out what is going on with their relationship as well. If you haven't read "Maggie's Nightmare" you may want to check it out, as this story is very much connected to it and will continue to have themes and events that relate to the other story.  
  
In "My Guardian" there only be a chapter here or there told from Maggie or Glenn’s POV, just as needed. Only if will help illuminate other story plots or give the perspective of other members of the group as they watch what is going on with Beth and Daryl.  
  
This is a companion fanfic, so for those of you reading “Maggie’ Nightmare” this chapter just filled you in on a crucial moment in Maggie and Glenn’s relationship, when their relationship ‘gets back on track’ after the events that took place in Woodbury – at least for a little while.  
  
And, for those of you who have read “Maggie’s Nightmare,” you know that the chapters told from Daryl and Beth’s POV in that story were written to give some of the back story as well as set things up for other events that will come up in the chapters to come. So, you can expect the same here ;)  
  
So, let me know what you think; **like it, love it, hate it** ... let me know your thoughts. **If you've got a moment, please leave me a note or comment on your way out ... I'd love to hear from you all :-D**  
 _  
 _ **Here's a Teaser Chapter Eight:**__ _This chapter will be ALL Deth/Bethyl. Both Daryl and Beth will be having some major revelations about life, love and about their undeniable feelings for each other. Maggie has some advice for Beth that will lead Beth to make some bold moves when it comes to Daryl …_  
  
Looking forward to hearing from you!!  
  
xoxo,  
Dahlia


	8. Chapter Eight

As always, thank you to everyone who is reading and following this story ... I appreciate it :) 

And, a **Special Thank you to** **Sarah+Beth, Buttons1721, melbelprincess** **for commenting on the last chapter - you all seriously rock! I love you all!**  
 **  
 **Now, back to our story ...****

**oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

**Beth’s POV –**

After I finally got Judith down for her afternoon nap, I decided to head down and see what everyone was up to, and see what other jobs needed to get done for the day. Since Maggie and Glenn had disappeared all afternoon, I ended up helping Carol get dinner ready for the rest of the group.

“Can you hand me that?” Carol pointed to the large shaker of salt.

“Sure.”

“Thanks.” Carol added salt to the rabbits that were roasting on the grill.

“Good thing those animal traps have been workin’ … I can’t believe they seem to have a rabbit or somethin’ in em every time we check.”

“Yeah, it’s great. Good thing Daryl knew how to set those traps.”

“Sure is …” My words trailed off as I thought about our awkward conversation from this morning. I just couldn’t get it out of my head. I couldn’t get Daryl out of my head, and it was really starting to bother me.

A few minutes passed as Carol and I chatted about Judith; she wanted to know all of the details about how she was progressing, what ‘baby milestones’ she had hit … and she always had a ton of advice for me, which I always really appreciated.

“Well, you’ll definitely know when she starts teething; trust me.” Carol joked.

I knew there were many mile stones Judith had coming up, but teething did worry me a bit though.

“Babies cry a lot when they teethe, right?”

“Sure do.” Carol looked over at me, and must’ve noticed the concern on my face.

“Well, ya don’t gotta worry about that in here, Beth. It’s okay if Judith cries. It’s not like were out on the road or anything.”

“I know. I guess … I guess I still worry about that though. That maybe we won’t always be here … and with all that cryin’ … well, you know. It’ll attract walkers.”

“Beth … you don’t gotta worry about that. Not now; not here. We’re all safe here … Judith is going to be fine, you’re going to be fine … we’re all going to be just fine. Okay, sweetheart?”

“Thanks, Carol. I guess I just worry bout things too much sometimes.” I paused and looked down at the ground and toed the dirt and pebbles with my boot.

Carol stopped what she was doing.

“Somethin’ else bothering you, Beth?”

I looked up at her; not knowing if I should go into it again.

“It’s just …”

“Yeah?”

“It’s just … _Daryl._ ” I checked to see if she knew what I was talking about.

“Ohhh …” Carol nodded and smiled. “What you were talking about earlier?”

“Yeah. I mean, he was really kinda mean to me this morning.” I exhaled deeply. “It’s the first time  he’s ever made me feel like that … he’s always made me feel …”

Carol looked on and raised her eyebrows; prompting me to continue.

“I don’t know. He’s made me feel special, I guess. Like I’m not just some kid, ya know? And, I’m not. I’m a woman now …And, I’m glad he treats me like that.”

“Uh, huh …” I could see Carol trying to hide her smile. “Well, I don’t think he was trying to be mean, Beth.”

“I know, it’s just not like him, is all. I just don’t know what to make of it.”

Carol started working the grill again, turning the rabbits over as she continued.

“With Daryl … well, he’s complicated …you know that.”

I didn’t respond at first; I just shook my head … I knew she was stating the obvious. Daryl was complicated to say the least. Complicated … but he was also beautiful and so strong. I loved that about him … how he could epitomize such strength and such sensitivity all at the same time. But, as I sat there watching Carol, I had realized that’s why his behavior was so puzzling to me. He was always caring and sensitive … so, why was had he been so cold?

“I know. It’s just, he means a lot to me. You all do. And, it hurt my feelings.”

“I get that, but he’s got a lot on his shoulders right now takin’ care of everyone the way he is …  
try to give him some slack, okay?”

Maybe Carol was right …perhaps I was thinking too much about all of this. I don’t know why, but I was.

“I will. I don’t know why it was bothering me so much. I can’t explain it. It’s like my stomach is in knots.”

“Knots? Really …?”

“Yes, knots! I couldn’t help but feel like … maybe Daryl didn’t like me all that much.”

“But, you two spend so much time together. Why would you say that?”

“You think we spend a lot of time together?”

“Yes, I do. I know you sneak out there every night watch he has. You must spend half the night with him. Am I right?”

I smiled and nodded yes.

“Well, he wouldn’t spend half the night talkin’ to ya if he didn’t like you, now would he?”

“Guess not …”

I looked up at Carol and she had the biggest smile on her face as she continued to put the rabbits to the side of the grill and she threw on some vegetables to roast.

“What’s that for?”

“What?” She replied coyly.

“That smile … what’s that for? You think I’m overreacting, don’t ya?”

“No, no … it’s not that at all. I just think its funny, that’s all.”

I put my hands on my hips. ”What’s funny?”

“It’s just; well … I think it’s funny. It’s funny that you would think Daryl doesn’t like you …”

“Why is that?”

Carol looked at me; she had a mischievous look in her eyes. Like she knew something that I didn’t.

Then, she whispered to me.

“Well, if I tell ya this, ya have promise to keep it a secret.”

I nodded for her to continue. “Okay, I promise.”

“Now, I’m serious.”

“I promise. I swear I won’t say a word.”

Carol’s face looked a little more serious as she continued.

“Well, apparently … he risked his life out on the last supply run … to get something for you, sweetheart.” She pointed her finger at me and smiled. “I don’t think that someone would risk their life for someone that they didn’t like. Do you?”

“For me?”

“Yes, for you.”

“Wow! I had no idea, Carol …”

I really didn’t know what to think, except that the thought of losing Daryl for any reason made my heart break. And, I certainly didn’t want him risking his life for me - for any reason.  
 _  
Why would he do something like that?_

_What would he have been trying to get?_

I tried to think what it could be. My mind raced as I thought back to our last conversation and what item Daryl might have been looking to bring back to me. Then, I remembered … my Butterfingers … he must’ve got them!

“Do you happen to know what it was?”

“I already told ya too much.” Carol laughed.

“Come on, Carol.” I smiled and batted my lashes. “You just gotta tell me.”

I really couldn’t take it. What had Daryl gotten me, what was so important? It couldn’t have been just the Butterfingers, and not knowing was just killing me!

“Like I said, it’s supposed to be a surprise, I guess. My lips are sealed.”

“Was it something to help me with Judith?”

“Nope.” She answered confidently.

“Something for my room? Like a poster or candles or something?”

“Uh, uh.”

“How about …Butterfingers? Ya know, the candy bar?” I bit the corner of my bottom lip; waiting for her response.

Carol looked up at me, and I had a huge smile across my face … she couldn’t help but giggle a little.

“Carol! Well, that’s the silliest thing I ever heard of!! Why’d he go and do something like that?”

“You tell me, Beth? I thought you said he didn’t like you very much.”

I couldn’t believe it! Not only did he remember … he risked his life for it? What the heck was going on? It wasn’t like Daryl to do things like that; I was completely stunned.

Carol continued talking while she turned over the roasting vegetables.

“Quite the gentlemen to bring ya back somethin’ … so sweet.”

I was still so surprised by the gesture. “I just can’t believe he remembered … and that he would risk his life for something like that.”

“That’s Daryl for ya … he always goes above and beyond for the people he loves.”  
 _  
People he loves?_

_Did she just say …that he loves me?_

_Or, does she mean that he loves all of the people in our group?_

Either way, the thought of it made my heart flutter.

“I know he does. He’s a good man.” I paused. “I guess I’ve been over thinking everything that happened this morning.”

“I think so …” Carol turned to look straight at me; she had that motherly look in her face. I could tell some advice was coming my way. “Daryl is a _good_ man, Beth. You are right about that. We’re all lucky to have him in our corner.”

I gazed off into the distance, thinking about Daryl and how sweet it was of him to do that. Completely reckless, but very sweet.

Carol bit her bottom lip, trying unsuccessfully to hold in her next comment.

“And, any woman would be lucky to have him too.”

I blushed at the thought of it.

“Carol!” I exclaimed. I couldn’t believe she just said that to me. “You’re not suggesting … I  
mean, Daryl’s not …”

Just the thought of Daryl … ‘with’ anyone sent a wave of emotions through me. It made me nervous, and anxious … and, excited!

I continued to fumble my words as I tried to respond to Carol’s last remark.

“I mean, I don’t think Daryl thinks of me, or any of us like that.” I looked cautiously at Carol to see what her response would be. “… Do you?”

I hadn’t dared to utter the words out loud, but Daryl had been on my mind … a lot lately. And, I suppose my admiration for as of late had grown into something a bit more. I just wasn’t sure what it had grown into … that is until Carol suggested it, ‘any woman would be lucky to have him …’

The words echoed the same sentiments that my heart had been feeling lately. Any woman would be lucky to have him; I’d be lucky to have him. But, I didn’t think that he could ever look at me that way. I’d always just be Maggie’s little sister, or Hershel’s daughter to Daryl – I was sure of it.

Carol looked over at me and then gestured for me to sit down.

“Ya know … Daryl’s a little bit older than you, but when it comes to dealing with women … any  
woman, even me … he isn’t really that experienced.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I think before all this … I don’t think Daryl had a ton of interaction with girls, or women, or whatever.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

“It’s just that when he interacts with you … you gotta keep this in mind; he’s not just some ordinary guy; he’s … _Daryl_ …” She paused and put her hand on my knee. “He has a heart of gold but … but sometimes he just doesn’t know how to express himself. Do ya understand what I’m sayin’?”

“I’m not sure …”

“Well, today you were upset by what he said, right?”

“Right.”

“But, you know he just went out and risked his life to get you something, right?”

“Yeah. Well, I know _now_ …”

“Well … he’s not good talking about his emotions and that kind of stuff. So, you know he likes you, he likes spending time with you, risked his life to get you something special … so, obviously … he likes you. He loves you … we all do. Most likely he’s just got something else going on inside his head right now.” She paused. “It ain’t got nothin’ to do with whether he likes you or not. Alright?”

“I think I get it.”

“Now, I’m not sayin’ that’s the most mature thing to do on his part, or the right thing to do. It’s just what he does some times. He definitely shouldn’t have made ya feel like that. However, now that you know it isn’t you, maybe you can figure out what’s really going on with him.”

“I will. Daryl’s always been there for me. I’ll check on him tonight and see what’s going on … see if he’ll tell me what’s really botherin’ him.”

“I think that sounds like a good plan.” She smiled. “I think you two have a lot you need to talk about … And, try and be direct as you can and really tell him how you feel. I think you both need to be a little more honest about how ya feel about each other. Remember that, okay?”

“Alright, I will.”

“And, don’t leave anything to the imagination. Like I said, he’s a little immature when it comes to talkin’ to women. So, be straightforward, and tell him how you feel about him; about what he said that upset you. He’s an good and honest man; he’ll give ya an honest answer.”

“Okay, Carol. Geez. I will ...”

“And, I wouldn’t wait if I were you. Tonight’s as good of a night as any.” Carol started to laugh a little. “And, remember … I didn’t tell you about what happened on the supply run or about his surprise, okay?”

“Of course! I swear I won’t say a word. I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise, if he went through all that trouble to get it for me.”

I didn’t really know what she was talking about when she said we had a lot to talk about, but I would make sure to visit Daryl tonight and bring up what happened this morning. I had to. I had to get it off my chest and let him know how I felt. And, then maybe, he would talk to me and let me know what is goin’ on with him. I hated that there was this weirdness between us; felt like I had a million butterflies in my stomach the rest of the day as I waited for the night shift to start so I could go out and talk to Daryl and tell him what was on my mind.  
 **  
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

**Daryl’s POV -**

It was pitch black out tonight; the moon was barely just a sliver in the sky. I had already made my first round of checking the fences out front. Everything looked good. Bout a dozen walkers near the outer gate, but nothin’ really to worry about.

It was quiet tonight, not even the walkers seemed to be makin’ much noise. So, when I head the prison door open, it startled me for a second. It was too dark to make out who had exited the prison, until she got about 20 feet away from me. Her blond hair was hard to miss, even in the dark.

“Hey there …”

She walked over to me and set the tray of coffees down on the table.

“Hey yourself.” I quietly responded.

“Brought y’all some coffee, like you like.”

She smiled sweetly. God, it made it hard to be mad at her with that smile.

“Thanks.” I paused, trying to think of what to say next. “You can jus leave it here.”

I could see the smile on her face disappear. I had hurt her feelings with that comment, almost as much as it hurt me to say it. I didn’t really want her to leave, but I was still pissed about the whole supply run incident and irritated to come home and find her talkin’ to Nick.

She replied sweetly, as if nothin’ was wrong. “That’s okay. I’d like to stay out here for a while if ya don’t mind.”

I hadn’t expected her to say that; she kinda caught me off guard.

“I … I guess so. Do what ever you want …”

She took a seat next to me on the table and we just sat there in silence for a while. I lit up a cigarette and took a drag, blowing the hot smoke up in the air above us.

Beth finally broke the silence.

“So … how’d the run go?”

“Fine.” I answered coldly.

“Really? Fine?”

“Yep.”

“I heard you and Glenn ran into a little … trouble.”

“Yeah, where’d ya hear that?”

“Dunno. It’s just want I heard.”

“Well, sounds like people have a hard time keeping things to themselves around here.”

“Perhaps. Or, maybe everyone was scared that you two had such a close call.”

“Yeah? Why is that?”

“Because … if anything ever happened to you … well …”

I looked over her and she turned her head away from me.

“Yeah? If anything happened to me … then what?”

“Well, it’s just the worst thing I can imagine.” She started to whimper a little; I could tell she had started to cry.

I didn’t know what to say. I started to feel bad that I had been so cold to her; I hated to see her cry.

“Hey, hey … ya don’t gotta cry. Geez! I ain’t goin’ no where.”

I put my arm around and brought her into my side to hug her. I felt her arms wrap around my waist.

“I … I’d just really miss you.”

“Come on, now. You’re killin’ me …”

Jesus! All I wanted to do was make her feel better. And, with all these tears I almost forgot why I was so mad at her … almost.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be cryin’.”

She sat up and sniffled; she wiped the tears from her cheeks.

“Why’d you go an get so upset?”

“It’s just … well … I don’t know. I guess I felt weird all day. I thought maybe you were mad at me or somethin’.”

“Why’d you think that?”

Even though it was dark out, I could see her eyes as she looked hesitantly at me.

“Out with it, girl.”

“You were kinda … mean this morning.”

“Mean, huh?”

I took a deep drag of my cigarette as I thought about our conversation this morning.

“Yes. Mean.”

I really wasn’t sure what to say and if I should get into this with her now. Who was I to tell her who she could talk to or hang out with? I was nobody to her.

Beth nudged me in the side. “Why were you actin’ like that?”

I ashed my cigarette and looked back at her. I could tell she wasn’t going to leave this alone.

“Dunno.”

“Come on, Daryl. Talk to me … please.”

“Listen … I’m sorry bout that. It ain’t none of my business.”

Beth looked confused.“What’s none of your business?”

She backed away from a little on the table. “Seriously … what are you talkin’ about?”

“I just didn’t like seein’ you hangin’ out with that Nick guy.” I took the last drag of my cigarette and threw it on the ground. “Like I said though, ain’t none of my business what you do or who ya hang out with.”

Beth was silent for a moment. I could tell she was nervous; she started fidgeting; picking at a fray on her jeans.

“So, Nick … that’s what this is all about?”

I looked at her and then jumped down off the table and stood in front of her.

“Guess so. But, I’m not your daddy. I can’t tell you what to do.”

“What’s it matter to you, anyways if I talk to him or not?”

Beth was trying to be cute, but she knew exactly what I was talkin’ about.

“You know I don’t like the guy; I think he’s dangerous. I don’t think you should be hangin’ around a guy like that.”

“Well, we were jus talking, is all. Nothing else happened.”

“I know …”

“It’s not like I got a thing for him or anythin’”

“I didn’t say ya did.”

“Well, I jus wanted to make sure you knew that.”

“Well … I figure he may not know that.” I paused and ran my hand threw my hair. The though of her with Nick was really irritating the hell out of me. “I think he’s sweet on ya.”

Beth scooted down off the table, so that now she was standing and just leaning against the  
edge of it. She placed both her palms on the table to prop herself up.

“You think he’s got a crush on me or somethin’”

“Ah, hell, Beth. I dunno … maybe.”

“And, that would be a bad thing?”

Now she was just messin’ with me; I could see it in her face. Her eyes were wide and she had a huge smile on her face. But, two could play at this game.

“Yeah, it would be.”

“So, if I shouldn’t be with a guy like Nick … what kinda guy should I be with?”

“That’s not for me to say.”

“No, I want to hear it from you.” She gently pushed me in the chest; catching me off guard I stumbled back a step or two.

“Alright, alright.” I walked back up to her; much closer now so we could see each other’s faces better in the dim light. “Well, first off … he’s gotta be 10 years older than you.”

She laughed. “He’s bout 7 years older than me. But, age doesn’t really matter. At least it doesn’t to me.”

I was a little confused by her response.

“Alright, well age aside … he’s got more ‘experience’ than you. You’re … well, a bit innocent, if ya know what I mean.”

“Innocent, huh?” She smiled, put her hands on her hips. Then, she tried her best attempt at a more sultry voice. “I’m not that innocent, Daryl.”

I laughed. “Ya sure are. And, we both know that. That little act ain’t foolin’ no one.”

“Okay. Fine.” She seemed to get a little more serious as she continued. “So what if he’s more experienced?”

“I dunno. I just don’t like him for ya.” I paused and looked over at he and all I could think about was that I didn’t like this guy just in general … and certainly not as a potential boyfriend or whatever for Beth … she deserved more than that.

Beth smiled and tilted her head down, letting a few loose pieces of her hair flop in front of her face.

“Well, it’s not like I’m actually interested in him Daryl. So, ya don’t gotta worry bout that.”

I walked over to her and brought her gaze up to meet mine. Then, I reached over and swept the loose strands of hair back away from her face.

“I just think you deserve more than that, Beth.”

She smiled and we just stared into each others eyes for a moment. When I realized, I had started to lean into her … just a little … as if I was going to kiss her.  
 _  
Shit! What the hell am I thinkin’?_

I shook my head, as if to wake myself from a dream. “Jesus! I almost …” I leaned against the table next to her and rubbed my chin as I was deep in thought.

“You almost what?”

“Nothin’ … nothin’, sorry.”

Beth just shrugged her shoulders. Thankfully, she just let me drop the issue. I looked over at her and she was smiling. She looked back up at me and continued with our conversation.

“So … if Nick’s not good enough … what type of guy is?”

“I dunno.” I scratched the back of my head; I didn’t know how to tell her that she only deserved the best … because that’s what she was. “I guess … you deserve someone … who’s smart.”

She nodded.

“Someone who’s got good morals … Someone honest … a real stand-up guy.”

“A stand- up guy, huh?”

“Yeah. I’m mean … you’re a good woman … you deserve a good man.”

Beth looked at me. “Is that it?”

“Well … and of course, he’s got to be able to take care of ya in this world. Be able to protect ya, provide for ya.” I paused as I thought of any other major qualities she deserved in a man. “With the world the way it is now, I think ya gotta be with a man whose got all those things … and, you deserve it … you’re an amazing woman. Ya really are …”

She smiled. “So, basically, you think I should be with someone … like you!”

I gasped. “No, that’s not what I said.” She had really caught me off guard with that comment.

_Why would she think I was suggesting she be with someone like me?_

“Sure sounded like it.”

I nervously laughed again, trying to correct her.

“No, not like me. Like what I just said … smart, strong and will look after you; protect you. Honest. Ya know?”

She got a little quiet but I could see she had a huge smile on her face.

“Well, I think you just described yourself, silly. You’re all of those things and more.”

However, I didn’t really consider myself to be a man deserving to be with a woman like Beth. But, I had to admit, I really liked talking to her like this. We hadn’t really talked like this before. And, by this point, I knew she was definitely flirtin’ with me. It had been a while since a woman had done that with me, but I could still recognize it when it was happening right in front of me. I noticed how she tossed her hair to the side and gazed up at me. She was teasin’ me a bit; she was enjoyin’ watching me squirm, but I didn’t mind – not in the least. I could play along with her.

“Nah …that ain’t what I’m sayin’, Beth.” I looked deep into her eyes. “You deserve much more than I could ever give you.”

She bit her bottom lip and looked down at our hands that were next to each other on the table. She carefully slid her hand on top of mine sending shock waves through my whole body.  
 _  
Damn! All of this talk and conversation, was confusin’ the hell outta me. I knew it wasn’t right, but she was gettin’ me all worked up._

She looked up at me as her small warm hand pressed against mine; tucking her fingers so that they intertwined with mine.

“Beth …”

I tried to get out some words, but before I could … I could feel her as she squeezed my hand and started to talk.

“No, Daryl … that’s exactly what you’re sayin’. You are the most honest and loyal man I’ve ever met.”  
 _  
Damn, that meant a lot to me … especially comin’ from woman like her._

I didn’t know what to say, so I just let her continue. She looked away shyly before meeting my gaze again.

“And, there’s no question that you could protect someone. Heck, you’ve protected our entire group this whole time. You’re like a knight in shining amour. Just got a crossbow instead of a sword.”  
 _  
I’d never gotten a compliment like that before. I mean, I had kind of started to see myself as a major contributor to this group, but I’d never considered myself a hero or nothin’ like that. Not how she was explainin’ it._

I was frozen with nerves and excitement; I couldn’t look away from her. I knew I should stop this, but somethin’ inside me wouldn’t let me.  
 _  
“Jesus, Beth!”_ I could feel the heat rise to my face.

I felt like I was on cloud nine gettin’ a compliment like that. “So, you think I’m like some prince charming, huh? That’s funny. I can only imagine what Merle would say if he ever heard a woman say that about me in front of him. He’d probably fall over from laughin’ so hard.”

Beth squeezed my hand again.

“It’s not funny, it’s true, Daryl.”

“Well, I don’t know about all that, Beth. Sure is sweet of ya to say it though.”

She let go of my hand and stood up. Looking right at me, she put her hands on the collar of my vest, leaning into me and pulling me closer to her.

“You don’t believe me, but it’s true.” She paused and looked deeply into my eyes … in a way … a woman had never looked at me before … with complete admiration.

She continued. “You’re all of those things and much more, Daryl. I hope you know that.”

And, before I could say anything she leaned in and kissed me on the cheek; slowly … and softly.

“Thanks, Beth. That was awful nice of you to say.”

“I’m not being nice. I’m just tellin’ you the truth. Tellin’ you how I feel.”

“Well, I appreciate it.”

And, then I remembered … my surprise …

“Hey, I … I gotcha somethin’.”

“You did?” She looked at me; a smile from ear to ear.

“I did. Wait her for a second. I’ll be right back.” I started to jog off and then turned around. “Now don’t go getting’ yourself into any trouble while I’m gone, ya hear?”

“I won’t.”

I ran back into the prison and for the duffel bag I had left near the exit. Had some extra guns, ammo, water bottle, pack of cigarettes and a few of those damn Butterfingers that almost got me killed. Even though I had been pissed off at Beth earlier, I still brought em out just in case she had showed up tonight. I put them the pocket on the inside of my vest and jogged back outside to the table where Beth was waiting for me.

“So, close your eyes.”

Beth closed her eyes and held out her hands. “Alright, my eyes are closed.”

“Now, I know you mentioned these were your favorite and ya hadn’t had one since this whole thing began.” I placed three of the candy bars in her hands. “But, I saw some when I was out on the supply run and made sure to bring em back for ya … you can open your eyes now.”

She opened her eyes and laughed with excitement.

“Oh, Daryl! You shouldn’t have!” She wrapped her arms around my neck and held me tight. “I can’t believe you remembered!”

She pulled away from me, but kept her arms slung over my shoulders and neck. She looked deep into my eyes. “Daryl Dixon … I think that’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me.”

And, then she did it again. She leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. We stood there just lookin’ at each other in the silence of the night.

I suddenly felt the urge to really kiss her, but I stopped myself. I wanted to ... I really wanted to, but I didn’t know if that’s somethin’ she wanted. Hell, I didn’t know if it was even the right thing to do. I mean, what would Hershel, or Maggie, or Rick say? So, I didn’t kiss her. But, for the first time … I really wanted to and that made me nervous and excited all at the same time.

“Here. You have one.”

She held out one of the candy bars.

“Thanks. But, I actually grabbed a big box. So … you’ll have more where that came from.”

“Thanks, Daryl. I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”

“Well, your welcome. Glad I was able to make ya smile. You got a beautiful smile.”

I could tell Beth was blushing; as she exhaled excitedly.

“Well, I like it when you make me smile, Daryl. Gotta be one of my favorite things in the whole world.”  
 **  
END CHAPTER EIGHT**

**ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

### Notes

So, Beth is a little clueless at first, but with Carol's help I think she's a lot more convicted and motivated with Daryl. We all know he's most likely gonna have to be pursued a bit, and not the other way around. So, hopefully, now Beth is in more of a position and has more confidence to do so.

Once she does have a little direction with Daryl, I'm sure they'll be sharing a lot more "moments" like the one they had in this chapter. I'm slowly building up their connection, so that when they do get together it feels natural :))

So, let me know what you think; **like it, love it, hate it** ... let me know your thoughts. **If you've got a moment, please leave me a note or comment on your way out ... I'd love to hear from you all :-D**

** So, if you don't know ... I might as well tell you -  I'm a sucker for comments and reviews. They give me motivation and inspiration to keep going with the story and every time I see a new one it **puts a SMILE ON MY FACE** (I swear), so I'm hoping to hear from more of you ;-) So, as soon as this chapter gets **a couple reviews** \- I'll get the next chapter up within 24 hours!!  
 _  
 _ **Here's a Teaser Chapter Nine:**__ _This chapter will be ALL Deth/Bethyl. Both Daryl and Beth will continue to have major revelations about life, love and about their undeniable feelings for each other. The next few chapters will have a lot of sweet/romantic/maybe a little jealousy as they continue to fall for one another :))_

 ** Make sure to **Bookmark this story** if you want to get notified when I post new chapters!! **

Looking forward to hearing from you!!

  
xoxo,

  
Dahlia


	9. My Guardian: Chapter Nine

 

Hey Everyone!

 

Sorry, I haven't updated in awhile, my muse has been on vacation as of late.

As always, thank you to everyone who is reading and following this story ... I appreciate it.

I'd also like to send out a **Special Thank you to: deni269, erica, Mallory, Namarea, Satah+Beth, Buttons1721, melbelprincess, and kris** for commenting on the the story. And, a **Special Thank you to closetfangirl77, Namarea, Ganeida, YouGotAFaceToCallHome, deni269** **and 27 Guests** (I wish I could thank you by name, but you know who you are) **that left Kudos on this work! - you seriously rock! I love you all!**

btw ... for those of you that have read Maggie's Nightmare, you will recognize pieces of the content as a flashback from Maggie's Nightmare: Chapter Nine. I have since re-worked the scene so that you get both Daryl and Beth's POV this time ... totally changes it adding her perspective :))

And, since everyone has been leaving such wonderful comments and reviews, I decided not to split this chapter up ... I just made it one super long one! I hope you all enjoy it!  
 **  
Now back to our story ...**  
 ****  
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo  
  
Daryl's POV –

"Hey, Daryl! Brought ya your coffee."

Beth smiled and walked briskly over to me from across the yard. The moon was out, and I could see she was smilin'.  
 _  
"Damn, if I didn't love that smile of hers._ _Gets me every time," I thought to myself._

She was bundled in a blanket that she had wrapped around her shoulders, and had and a cup of steaming coffee in her hands.

"Thanks, Beth. Appreciate that …"

"Anything to help. I know you can use it during these long night shifts." She handed me the mug.

"Careful! It's hot." She added.

"Ah! Sure is." I jokingly replied; giving her a sly smile as I started to laugh.

"Daryl!"

"What? What? I was just kiddin' …"

She started to laugh with me; relieved she hadn't scalded me with her cup of coffee.

"Geez … ya scared me …"

"Sorry bout that." I paused and held the mug up. "Thanks, Beth. Really hits the spot."

She didn't have to bring me and the others coffee every night, but I thought it was awful sweet of her to do so. I'd come to really look forward to her visits too. Seemed like I'd seen her damn near every night I had watch these last couple of weeks. And, I usually liked to be on my own, but to be honest … I really liked her company. I felt like I could really talk to her bout stuff, which I wasn't always so inclined to do with most other people. And, we could not talk. I liked that about her … she was very peaceful and there was somethin' to be admired bout that.

We stood in silence for a while, just looking out over the yard. Even though all we had was the moonlight, I could see there were some walkers trolling around the front fencing.

I grunted and shook my head. "Damn things never sleep!"

"Well, the guard watch really isn't all for them … now is it?" Beth hinted; referring to The Governor.

"Can't be too careful these days, I guess." I paused to drink my coffee, and tried my best to change the subject.

"This is real good Beth … real good."

I drank my coffee and lost myself in thought for a moment.

It wasn't just for the walkers. Me, Rick, Michonne, Glenn, Hershel and the rest of the group had all decided it was best to keep guard at all hours, and to make sure at least one member of our original group from the prison was on guard at any one time. With the Governor still out there somewhere, we knew we couldn't be too careful.

Beth nodded. She looked out over the yard and finally chimed in, "You think he'll come back?"

"Nah, I don't think so …"

I could see her eyes squint and her mouth crook to the side. She was troubled by that reality. She really hadn't been the same since everything had happened with The Governor. With everything that had happened with Maggie, Glenn and the massacre; I could tell Beth felt uneasy bout the whole thing. I wanted to make her feel better, if I could. It was real important to me that Beth felt safe here. I knew I'd always look out after her and she had nothin' to worry bout.

"An, even if he does … we're ready for him. No need to worry bout that, Beth. Ya hear?"

I did my best to ease her fears, but I could tell … she wasn't completely convinced. She had a vacant look in her eyes, which let me know she was chewing on somethin' heavy.

"I think he's gonna come back. Just don't know when, or what he's gonna do …

… But, he'll be back."  
 **  
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

Several hours passed and, thankfully, there wasn't much more going on than those few walkers at the fence. A couple of walkers Tyrese had already dispatched of by sticking a pole through the fence; the rest wandered around the perimeter.

"See that Beth? Just aim for an eye; hard to miss the brain if you do that."

I liked to give her and the others advice whenever I could. Of course, I planned on outlasting every one of these damn walkers. But, I knew that there might come a time when I might not always be around, so I figured I'd pass down any tips I had while I could.  
 _  
But, as usual, Beth seemed to have other things on her mind tonight …_

Beth toed the ground with her boot; brushing dirt back and forth. I couldn't help but notice her listlessness.

"Ya alright?"

I was concerned by the distance I saw in her eyes. I leaned over and bumped my shoulder into hers, trying to nudge her out of her funk.

Beth crossed her arms and looked up slowly; gradually meeting my eyes.

"Ya ever wonder … ya know … what the future is going to look like for us?"

My eyebrows furrowed. I wasn't used to answering these types of questions … cause I didn't really know the answers. But, I did my best to try and reassure Beth. I know that's what she was lookin' for.

"I try not to think about that. Jus focused on the day to day, really. Survival, an all that." I paused.  "Why? Whatcha ya worried bout?"

"I just worry sometimes … that this is it. That this is all life is ever gonna to look like. Surviving day to day, in constant fear of the living … _and the dead._   Wonderin' if we're going to all make it to tomorrow. It's exhausting …

… And, it worries me."

"Ya don't have to worry, Beth. Ya know you're safe here."

Beth's tone turned a bit melancholy. "Yeah, I know I'm safe … for right now. But, what kind of future do I have to look forward to?"  
 _  
"She was always the optimistic one. Always with a smile on her face. Damn! I hate to see her so upset," I thought to myself._

"What kind of future did ya want?" I questioned her.

"Well … it might sound stupid now … given that the world is the way it is …"

"Yeah … what?" I smiled and encouraged her to continue.

"Well … I had always wanted to go to college, get married, have a family … all that kinda stuff."

"You can still have that, Beth." I paused and look deep into her eyes. "You can have all of that."

Beth felt a little irritated at my answer; I could tell by the way she was biting her lip. She only bit her lip when she was angry and was physically keeping herself from sayin' something.

And then she let it out …

" _Really?!_ An how's that gonna happen?" She paused.

I could tell she was getting upset and holdin' back tears now. She choked on each of the words as she tried to get them out.

"College?! Marriage?! Kids?! In what universe, Daryl?"

I hadn't realized she was so worried bout all that stuff. I tried not to think bout that kinda stuff. And, as for worryin' bout it, well, I certainly didn't have much time to worry bout nothin' these days except for stayin' alive. And, keepin' these people alive. But, Beth … she'd been holdin' this in for a while now … I could tell.

"Don't pretend like ya don't know what I'm talkin' bout either." She looked at me with sadness and frustration in her eyes, putting both her hands on her hips.

All I could do was just look back at Beth – I was a bit stunned. My eyes widened; my lips parted, leaving my mouth agape. She kind of bit my head off and I really didn't know what to say, so I set my coffee down and just braced myself and waited to hear what she had to say next.

" _Seriously,_ Daryl …ya say I'm gonna have all those things … how?! Where am I gonna meet someone? Here at the prison?! On a supply run? How's that gonna work out?"

"Listen, Beth. I didn't say I had all the answers, jus that you could have that one day …"

I didn't know where the next words that came out of my mouth came from, but all I knew was that I could feel myself gettin' all fired up. My stomach started to turn in knots. 

My face flushed with heat. "Hell, that's what we all want!"  
 _  
"Damn! Where'd the hell that come from?" I thought to myself._

Funny thing was Beth actually seemed to calm down.

"Really? Ya feel those things too?" She whispered quietly.

She had wanted a real answer for her real concerns, and I guess she felt better knowing that I knew exactly what she was feeling.

Beth took a few steps closer to me, shuffling her feet as she walked. She uncrossed her arms and started to fiddle with the tips of her hair, spinning them in between her forefinger and thumb.

"I'm sorry, Daryl. I guess … I guess I'm just worried I'll end up alone, ya know? All this stuff with the Governor. Him taking Maggie and Glenn. I just feel like there is a real possibility I will end up completely alone in all this. And, if that's the case …

… Then, what the hell am I fighting for everyday?"

I could see the tears well up in her eyes. She was frustrated and mourned the loss of the life that could have been. She'd always been so positive, I had no idea all of this was goin' on under the surface. I suppose The Governor, the added pressure of takin' care of little Asskicker, and all this death … guess it had started to finally take its toll on her. Damn, shame too. I wanted to reassure her and let her know she wasn't alone.

Hell! I'd never leave her alone in all this. But, I suppose I did know how she felt. I sometimes, even if just for a second, let myself wonder about the future. I didn't like to do it, cause it just made me upset. But, I found myself doin' it more and more lately. Especially, with all the time I'd been spendin' with Beth. Made me think about all kinds of things I never thought I'd be thinkin' bout …

"I feel that way too sometimes … I wonder if I'll jus end up alone. I mean, Hell – I am alone. My brother's dead and I ain't got no family left."

Beth turned to me, "But we're your family now. You know that, right? We're all family. You're not _alone_ , Daryl. None of us are, I guess."

"Ya know exactly what I'm talkin' bout, Beth …

… I mean like a _real_ family. You got your Dad, Maggie and I guess Glenn now, right?"

She smiled. "Right."

"But, I ain't got any of that. So, I do understand how ya feel. Not knowing what your place in the world is; who you belong to."

"Ya still miss Merle, don't you?" Beth asked quietly.

"Course I do! What kinda question is that?" As I answered her, I felt a sharp pain in my heart; a physical pain in my chest.

"Just askin' … I didn't mean anythin' by it." She quickly added.

"Course I miss him. He was my brother. Killin' him was the hardest thing I ever did. Worse than anythin' I ever experienced in my life … and that's sayin' a lot!"

I turned and faced away from her; feeling the lump in my throat and feeling my face flush with blood from the emotions. The tears were on their way, and I didn't want Beth to see me cry.

"Better get back to my watch, ya better head on in, Beth."

I tried to brush her off, and get off the topic but it was too late. She didn't leave and as we just stood there in silence, I began to feel overwhelmed.  
 _  
The hell?_

I reached for my face and could feel the tears that had spilled out of my eyes and had started to roll down my cheeks.

"Are ya alright, Daryl?"

Beth reached out to and grabbed my arm; trying to pull me towards her. I pulled away defensively. I quickly tried to wipe the tears away and hide them from Beth. I just didn't want her to see me like this.  
 _  
"I'm supposed to be making her feel better and here I'm doin' all the cryin'," I thought to myself._

But, I couldn't hide them from her. She grabbed my arm again, and pulled me towards her; she stood right in front of me. And, in the moon light she cupped my face and reached up and wiped one of the tears from my face with her thumb.

She just looked at me for awhile; not sayin' a thing. Wiping the tears as the fell. I wanted to hide, but I found that I just couldn't look away from her beautiful face.

And, all I could think about was the last couple of weeks with Beth. We'd spent a lot of time together, and we'd shared a lot, ya could say. I had started to look at her differently. She wasn't a scared little girl anymore; she was a woman. Takin' care of a baby – ain't anything more grown up ya can possibly do. I was always amazed at how she took on the job of raisin' Little Asskicker. No one had to ask or say a thing. She just stepped in and did it. She would tell me things like, "We all have jobs to do." But, I knew that was bullshit. She wasn't just some babysitter. She was bein' this little girl's mom – and a good one at that.

But, how'd we get here tonight? I'm blubberin' like some fool and she's got herself in a tizzy bout what kinda future she's got to look forward to.  
 _  
"Some pair we make," I thought to myself._

But, I guess we both were both really hurtin' tonight. She'd never really talked to me so directly about her fears and she sure as hell had never seen me like this; I had made damn sure no one ever did.  
  
But, not tonight … not here with Beth. I couldn't hide my heart from her anymore; no matter how hard I tried.  
 ****  
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo  
  
Beth's POV -

"It's okay to cry, ya know?" I looked up at Daryl, my eyes were wide and I could feel them instantly start to fill with tears.

"Yeah, I know. Jus not used to all that emotional shit." Daryl wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

"Well, we all need a good cry now and again. I think we've earned it." I smiled.

I had always thought it was so amazing that Daryl had always tried to be so strong for everyone. But, I had always known he was a sensitive guy underneath it all. And, there he was … Daryl Dixon, with tears in his eyes; overcome by the reality of this life we were livin' and what the future may or may not hold for us.  
 _  
"Overwhelmed - just like me." I thought to myself._

And, I felt honored that he showed me this part of himself, even if it was just for a moment.  
I wiped the tears from my own face and smiled, "Promise I won't tell anyone … wouldn't wanna blow your cover."

"Thanks, Beth."

Daryl smiled and laughed; grabbing me around my arms and bringing me in for a hug. I instantly wrapped my arms around his waist, nuzzling my head into his chest.

I tried to push the thoughts of The Governor, the walkers, Merle and everything else out of my head, as we stood there in the quiet of the night; holding onto to each other.  
 **  
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooo**

I loved the feel of Daryl's arms wrapped around me; I felt so safe in that moment. But, I also felt somethin' else … somethin' I'd been holdin' back from Daryl these past few weeks …

I wanted more from him; I really couldn't deny it anymore. The harder I tried; the more I felt it. And, from what I could feel in his embrace … I thought he must feel it too.

I broke the silence; looking up at Daryl, not breaking our embrace.

"Daryl?"

"Yeah?" He looked so concerned.  
 _  
God, I love how protective he is of me._

But, in that moment … I suddenly felt doubt. Doubt that maybe Daryl didn't feel the same way about me; maybe he didn't want what I wanted.

I could feel the smile leave my face; instinctively I started to back away from him; out of his embrace. I wanted to know how he felt about things … about the future … about me. I needed to know.

"You think I'll ever have a family? I've been thinking about it a lot lately."

He closed his mouth tight and winced; I could tell he was a little uncomfortable with the topic; the one he had tried to run from earlier.

I knew it was for a good reason; it was a hard question to answer. And, I knew that things were complicated now days. But, I wanted to know how he felt.

"What d'ya mean? I thought you said we are all family now. What're you worried bout anyways, you got your family here."

"I mean … a family of my own, Daryl. Not just Maggie and my Dad."

He did his best to try and reassure me.

"Well, sure … of course ya will, Beth … you'd make a great mother."

I wiped the remaining tears from my cheeks and Daryl continued.

"I mean, if anyone should have a family and be a mother - it would be you. I've seen ya with little Asskicker. You definitely have a way with that the baby. Hell, you're great with all the kids here. Makin' a prison feel like a home to these kids … it's a hard thing to do. But, I see you doin' it everyday … I see all the things ya do."

He paused and smiled. "Of course, you'll be a mother, Beth. Don't ya worry bout that. It'll happen for ya."

And, I thought about it; and I knew I'd make a great mom. I just didn't see how that was ever going to happen. This was the reality I'd been wrestling with and I just could not see the forest through the trees.  
 _  
And, did Daryl see it? Did he see a future with kids? He didn't say nothin' bout that. Guess he doesn't see that with me._

The thought that Daryl didn't seem to imply that he saw any of that with me … well, it made me real upset.

"How the hell is that ever going to happen, Daryl?" I asked him calmly. "I mean, _really_?"

I looked up at him longingly.

I wanted him to know how I felt … that I had questions. Questions about my future. But, more than anything … I had questions about my future with him.  
 _  
Why couldn't he just see that?_

But, then I could see the recognition register on his face; he knew what I was talkin' about … but he just didn't address it!

"Well, I don't know how …" He paused. "I jus know it'll happen for you. You'd be a great mother."  
 _  
I waned to hear him say it ..._

I wanted him to say what I know we were both feelin'. I just didn't know how to get him to. I knew I had to say somethin' to shake him up a bit …

"How about a wife? Would I be a great wife?" I looked on eagerly.

"How the hell am I supposed to know somethin' like that?"

He tried to deflect the answer, which kinda irritated me.

"The hell, Daryl?" I pushed him in his shoulder gently. "That wasn't a joke. I was being serious!"

"No, I know you were. Its jus relationships are complicated and I'm definitely not the person to ask about whose got a good relationship, who's a good wife or who's a good husband."

He paused then smiled. "Well, look at Maggie and Glenn … they're married now, right? They seem to be happy. I think they are good to each other and treat each other right. Guess they'd be a good example for ya."

"I think I can be a good wife … I was just asking you if _you_ thought I would be a good wife."

"Christ sake, Beth. I guess … I mean, yeah … I think you'll be a great wife."

I smiled and started to twirl my hair around my fingers again. I felt like a school girl; butterflies raced through my stomach. I felt we were finally gettin' somewhere.

"You think so?"

Then, he added to his previous statement. "I do … someday, of course."

"Someday, huh?" I gave him a tight lipped smile and then I continued; I hoped he would get what I was inferring to.  
 _  
He could be so hardheaded sometimes!_

"Ya know, Daryl? It's hard to think about that, when life can feel so short sometimes and people can be taken away at any time."

I continued, but I made sure that he knew by the tone of my voice that I was being completely honest and completely serious. And, I wanted some completely honest and completely serious responses from him.

"I might die tomorrow, Daryl. There's no guarantee with anythin' these days …"

I could tell this conversation was makin' him a bit nervous now. He started to chew the skin around his fingernails … tell tale sign that Daryl was literally 'chewing' on somethin'.

"I'm sure you'll find that someone, Beth. Ya know, someone who just sweeps ya off yer feet."

He looked down at the ground and ran his hand through his hair.

"You're a beautiful girl; I am sure you'll end up with someone great. I mean, you definitely deserve someone great."

I could tell he wasn't just sayin' that to make me feel better; he was tellin' the truth. He thought I deserved the best, but what he hadn't yet seemed to realize is that I thought he was the best. He was the best man I've ever met. I couldn't imagine anyone more perfect.

I wanted him to know how I felt. That I thought he was perfect. Hell, I'd basically told him that before. He just could never except that he had become something extraordinary … in all of this chaos, in all of this death and destruction … he had emerged as a man to be admired; a man to be loved; a man that I was beginning to realize more and more everyday … that I loved.

But, I knew he probably thought I was young; inexperienced; innocent. I'd heard all of these words that people used to describe me before.

And, although he'd never admit … I kne that Carol was right … Daryl was just as inexperienced when it came to the opposite sex. Well … maybe not quite as inexperienced … But, inexperienced for his age, that's for sure. So, he was innocent too. And, I knew that. I could see it in how he talked and how he looked at me. I could feel it when he would come close to touching me, or the few times he'd held me.  
 _  
He thought I was inexperienced. But, I wanted to see just how experienced he was for myself …_

"I don't know, Daryl. Ya know … I've only ever kissed a boy?"

My eyes wandered to the ground, as I continued to tell him about my experiences – or lack thereof.

I kept my eyes on the ground, as I did feel a bit embarrassed to actually talk about these things out loud.

"I'm still a virgin, for Christ's sake! So much for savin' myself for marriage … how stupid was that!" I grumbled at the absurdity of it.

I crossed my arms and then looked up at Daryl … waiting for his response.  
 _  
I could tell the question had made him a bit uncomfortable. But, I didn't care … I wanted to hear what he thought about sex … and, what he thought about me being a virgin._

"I don't think it was stupid for you to wait. Not at all. When you find your guy, you'll realize it wasn't stupid at all. It's supposed to be special … but, I don't gotta tell ya that."

"I guess." I paused. "I just wish I had at least kissed a few more boys. That wouldn't have been so bad." I gave him a mischievous smile.  
 _  
I teased him a bit. I wanted to get a rise out of him. Get him to say somethin'. Do somethin' already!_

"Yeah." Daryl tugged at the neckline of his shirt. He looked flustered. "I suppose. Kissin' would've been alright. I mean … it's a lot of fun." He smiled slyly, and ran his hand through my hair.  
 _  
God, I love it when he does that ... sends chills down my spine ..._

He continued. "Would've been alright if you had kissed a few more guys before all this, I guess."

In the moonlight, I could see his face flush. All this talk was gettin' to him just as much as it was gettin' to me.  
 _  
I wondered to myself, "All this talk about sex. I wondered when the last time Daryl had sex. I wondered if he missed it. If he was "sexually frustrated," as they say." I know I missed kissin' … he had to miss sex, right?_

I giggle a little as I continued. "Yeah, shoulda woulda coulda, right?"

Then, for some reason, I could feel the heat and excitement from all this talk - suddenly turn. Suddenly, I was faced with the possibility that I would never feel another pair of lips on mine. No ones. And, at this rate, I'd certainly never feel Daryl's lips on mine. I was just too sad …

"But, maybe that time has come and gone for me ..."

And, then I thought about all of the other things I wouldn't feel or experience.

"There won't be any dates or prom …hell, there aren't even any match.com meet-ups or nothin' like that in my future."

I looked up at Daryl to see his face, to see his reactions to my comments. And, I could see that Daryl had a small smile on his face and he was rubbing his chin – he had obviously found my comment amusing.

I just looked back at Daryl, exhaled deeply and then found myself starting to laugh a little – the thought of me on match.com even made me smile a little.

Then, I finished with the point that I had wanted to make.

"My future … just killing walkers and takin' care of other people's kids. Taking care of the important people in _other_ people's lives."

"Hey, Bethy …?"

_Oh, God ... I really loved it when he called me that. It was so breathy the way he said it. It just slid off his lips. He had me in palm of his hands and didn't even know it!_

He looked down at the ground, as he continued. "I didn't mean to upset ya."

Then he walked over to me and he put his arms around me; giving me a big bear hug. I felt enveloped by him. He pressed his body close to mine and I couldn't help but burrow my face into his chest. And, I could feel the heat from his chest on my face as it warmed my cheek.  
 _  
The feel of him._  
 __  
The feel of his body so close, it felt so good. So at peace.  
  
I wish I could stay here forever in his arms. Nothin' in the world seems wrong, when I'm in his arms.

I could feel the tears start; I just couldn't help it. Daryl made me feel so good, so safe … but, I knew it would end soon. I began to cry quietly in his arms.

"It's never too late, ya know?" I said in just a whisper.

I looked up at me from within his embrace; I didn't want to leave the comfort of his arms yet. I batted my eyes and let my lips part.  
 _  
I need him. I want him so badly. I want him to kiss me … more now than ever before._

Butterflies came rushing to my stomach. I could feel my cheeks flush with excitement.

"What … what'd mean, Beth?"

"You could kiss me, Daryl."

I had wanted this for some time now, but for some reason tonight I actually got the nerve to ask.

I could tell by the look on his face that he was stunned by my proposal. He pulled me away a little, so he could look more directly into my eyes. And, I could see that he wanted me too. I just didn't know what he would do now that I had flat out asked for him to kiss me.  
 _  
God, this killing me …_  
 __  
Kiss me already …  
  
What's takin' so long …?

I could tell that instead of following his heart; he was totally overthinkin' it.

"It's just a kiss Daryl; not a marriage proposal. I just want to feel close to someone in that way." I licked my bottom lip. "I mean, I want to feel close to you in that way. That is … if you do too …"

"I …. I don't know what to say." He mumbled.

"Ya don't have to say anythin', silly. Ya just have to kiss me …" My eyes widened, searching his eyes for his answer.

"Yeah, right? I'm old enough to be your father!"

"My father is in his 60s, and you're what … 35?"

"Try 38."  
 _  
I knew there was somethin' that was botherin' him …_

I tried to reassure him that age didn't matter at all to me. Daryl was perfect the way he was. Didn't matter what age he was. I certainly didn't care.

So, I stated the obvious truth.

"So, that doesn't mean you can't kiss me. No laws against that."  
 _  
There's still somethin' still holdin' him back … what is it?_

"Nah… we can't."

I just looked up at him. I tried to remain as calm and composed as I could. I pressed myself into him slightly; tightening my arms around his waist.

I did my best impression of a seductive woman; raised my eyebrows and pursed my lips; it was my first real attempt and I hoped that it would work.

"Come on … I definitely need a little more experience before I meet this mysterious prince charming I'm going to meet one day. Doesn't have to mean anything if you don't want it to …"

I could see that the last part 'doesn't have to mean anything' bothered him.  
 __  
Maybe he does care?  
  
Maybe he does want it to mean somethin'?

And, I couldn't help but thinkin' that if he just kissed me; maybe he could admit to himself … that he had feelings for me too. Just maybe …

"Daryl … its just a kiss … one kiss."

I closed my mouth and made it ready for his lips; tilted my head back a bit and closed my eyes.  
 __  
This has to be it.  
  
If he doesn't kiss me now … he never will …

And, before I knew it, I could feel his arm wrap tighter around me; pulling me closer to him. His hand as it gently touched my face. And, then the warmth of his breath followed by the heat of his soft lips as the grazed softly against mine.  
 _  
Perfect! I thought to myself. I was in heaven …_

We stood there in night, and lost ourselves in each other. Our tongues swirled around each others, passionately, sucking in each others breath. We didn't break our kiss for several minutes, until I heard the outer door of the prison shut behind someone. It was Michonne and she was on her way out to relieve Daryl from his watch.

And, just like that … Daryl pulled himself away from me. And, just like that, his shift was over, and it was like it never happened; we were just standing there in front of each other looking at one another.

But, thankfully, my lips still stung from the stumble on Daryl's chin; a reminder of what had just happened.  
 _  
Our first kiss …_

I imagined so many things in than brief moment. So many wonderful and beautiful things.

And, then it all came crashing down with just a few quietly uttered words.

"We can't … I mean … I can't do this. I'm sorry."

He just stared looking at me; he looked so confused. Then, he did somethin' so hurtful … he just walked away. Leaving me alone by the lookout.

He walked further and further away. I could see him quietly pass by Michonne and back into the prison. I wondered if she had seen anythin'. If she did, I doubted she would care anyways.

I started to walk back up to the prison and passed by Michonne. She smiled politely but then kept walking.

I walked back into the prison and to my cell. It was empty; Carol had taken Judith for the night to give me a night off. I was all alone. I went ahead and laid down on my cot so I could catch a few hours of sleep before Carol would inevitably wake me up and hand off Judy.

I just couldn't believe I had spent the entire night outside talkin' with Daryl, and we had such a wonderful breakthrough … or, at least I had thought.

Daryl finally kissed me! He finally kissed me! I was so excited. But, at the same time I had knots in my stomach. His reaction afterwards was less than comforting. I wondered if he was regretting kissin' me right now.  
 __  
Maybe I had forced the issue?  
  
Maybe he didn't feel that way about me and it was all in my head?

I had been so sure of him feelin' the same way I did and now I was just filled with self doubt … I felt awful. I just really wanted to see Daryl so I could clear all this up. I needed to talk to him. I needed to know how he felt … about me … and about that kiss.  
 **  
END CHAPTER NINE**

**ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

### Author's Notes

So … what did you all think?! They finally kissed! Yeah! :))

Beth and Daryl are definitely on their way, but as you can see the beginning of the road is going to be a little bumpy for them … at least for right now.  
 **  
For those of you haven't read Maggie's Nightmare ...** parts of this chapter were taken from Maggie's Nightmare: Chapter Nine.  In Maggie's Nightmare, you get to read the entire scene outside with Beth/their first kiss/etc entirely from Daryl's POV!! So, if you want to hear what all was going through Daryl's head the entire time, you should check it out.

So, let me know what you think; **like it, love it, hate it** ... let me know your thoughts. **If you've got a moment, please leave me a note or comment on your way out ... I'd love to hear from you all :-D**

** **I've got Chapter Ten about half way done ...** So, as soon as this chapter gets **5 reviews** \- I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can! I know, I know ... I'm a sucker for comments and reviews. Plus, they _**keep me motivated and inspired**_ to keep working on the story, so I'm hoping to hear from more of you ;-)  
 _ **  
Teaser for Chapter Ten**_ _: After their kiss, Daryl has serious doubts and concerns. He does something that almost ruins everything with Beth. However, a fateful conversation with Carol will help him to finally realize his feelings for her ..._

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Best,  
Dahlia


	10. Chapter Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl is stubborn and breaks things off with Beth, but thankfully Carol is there to talk some sense into him. Hopefully, Carol's advice will help him gain some real perspective on his feelings for Beth and stop jerking this poor girl around ;))

Hey Everyone!  
  
I've been busy with work, so I haven't had a chance to update my stories on this site in a while. Good news though - this one's an extra long one ;)  
  
As always, thank you to everyone who is reading and following this story ... I appreciate it.

  
And, a **Special Thank you to[Shivex](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Shivex), [tollandm](http://archiveofourown.org/users/tollandm), [closetfangirl77](http://archiveofourown.org/users/closetfangirl77), [Namarea](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Namarea), [Ganeida](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Ganeida), [YouGotAFaceToCallHome](http://archiveofourown.org/users/YouGotAFaceToCallHome), [deni269](http://archiveofourown.org/users/deni269)** and 33 guests (wish I could thank you by name, but you know who you are) for leaving Kudos on the on the story, as well as **Christina, Susanna and watermark** for leaving a comment on this last chapter - **you all seriously rock!**  
 **  
And, now back to our story ...**  
 **  
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**  
 **  
** **Beth's POV –**  
  
I awoke to the sound of Judy crying; strangely, it sounded like it was comin' from far away. I could feel a dull headache pulsed through my brain; must've been from all the cryin' I did last night. I was so drained after my talk with Daryl, I cried myself to sleep; I was completely emotionally exhausted.  
  
I could hear the clamor of everything going on downstairs. Kids yellin'. The Adults talkin'. The prison was buzzing …  
  
I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. I could see by the amount and location of light coming in through the prison windows … that it was considerably later than the time Carol had agreed to wake me up.  
 _  
What the heck? What time is it? _I guess it was a good thing Carol let me sleep in.__  
  
I rubbed my eyes; I could feel they were puffy from cryin' ... I hated that. I knew they'd be blood shot too. Always happens to me when I cry. I seriously contemplated just rollin' over and goin' back to sleep, but I knew I had things to do today. I had a job ... and there were no days off here.  
Surprisingly, I actually felt relatively rested ... which I shouldn't have considering I had been outside with Daryl all night.  
 _  
Thank God for small favors. I was going to have a long rest of my day and night with Judith. I needed the sleep._  
  
However, before I faced the rest of the group and before I could face Daryl, I needed a minute to collect my thoughts. I just stared at the top bunk above me, tryin' get myself ready for the day; until I finally just forced myself to get up.  
  
I quickly brushed my hair back into a pony tail and got dressed. I took a look in the mirror, and I could see my eyes looked puffier than they felt.  
 _  
Yikes! Can't go down there lookin' like this, I thought to myself._  
  
I quickly dunked a washrag in a bucket of water I kept near my sink, and pressed the cold rag to my eyes. I looked in the mirror again.  
 _  
Damn ... well, that didn't work.  
  
_ Guess it didn't matter though; no amount of cold compresses or make up would cover these swollen baby blues, anyhow. And, then I gave myself one last look in the mirror. _  
 _  
"Yep! Jeans, t-shirt and boots ... end-of-the-world fashion at its best," I thought to myself._  
  
_ I walked out of my cell and looked down over the catwalk, and I could see Carol was seated at one of the tables; rocking Judith in her arms. She caught sight of me and smiled.  
  
I briskly made my way downstairs and over to Carol."Ya let me sleep in?" _  
_  
She smiled and looked down at Judith, and then she proudly replied. "Well, Judith was real good last night. Didn't give me any trouble." Carol's eyebrows arched as she continued. "Slept all night and didn't get up until 6am."  
  
She gave me a knowing look and then whispered."I heard ya come in this morning … you were out pretty late. So, I figured I'd just let ya sleep in." She smiled. "No harm in that."  
  
"Ahh, Carol. Ya didn't have to do that. I mean, we all got jobs to do here, and Judy's my responsibility."  
  
"No need to worry, Beth. I just figured that you could use a good night's sleep. And, I certainly didn't mind gettin' to spend a little more time with little Judy here."  
  
She snuggled the baby close to her; she rubbed her nose against Judy's and then kissed her on the cheek. "She's just a doll. So, I don't mind. Not one bit."  
  
"Well, I appreciate it; I needed it." I paused. " And, I was out late."  
  
Carol gave me a mischievous grin. "You sure were! Any reason in particular?"  
  
"Well, I talked to Daryl last night. Ya know? Bout things."  
  
"Did you?"  
  
"Yes. I did." I quietly responded.  
  
She nodded her head; prompting me to continue. " _And?_ "  
  
I sat down beside her and peered up at her; giving her a half-hearted smile. "And … nothing. Nothing at all."  
  
She raised her eyebrows and her mouth fell open a little bit; Carol looked shocked. I stretched out my arms; reaching for Judith. Carol slowly handed her over to me.

I could tell Carol was bewildered by my comment, so I continued. "It's alright, Carol."  
  
"Well, that doesn't make any sense." She seemed deep in thought; perplexed. "I know Daryl cares an awful lot about you."  
  
"Well, guess he doesn't see me like that."  
  
"No, no, _he does_. Come on. I've seen him. The way he looks at you. The things he's done for you." She paused. "Please. Ya must've been mistaken, Beth!"  
  
She didn't know what she was talkin' bout. She hadn't been there. She didn't see him just leave me alone in the dark without as much as a goodbye, after everything we'd talked about ... after our kiss.  
  
 _He just left me out there! If you'd seen it, Carol. You'd be singin' a different tune._  
  
I felt like a fool.  
  
"I'm so stupid. I shoulda never thought a guy like Daryl would be interested in me."  
  
"Of course, he's interested. Trust me, _he's interested_."  
  
After how we left things, I really was just so confused; however, it seemed that Carol wasn't.  
  
In fact, Carol seemed to be gettin' riled up. Her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed. "Well, I'm gonna have a word with him. I don't know what his damn problem is."  
  
"Well, that makes the two of us." I smiled politely.  
  
I wrapped Judith's blankets tightly around her, put her on my shoulder and patted her back. "She's fed and ready for a nap, I imagine?"  
  
"She is." Carol blankly stared back.  
  
"Well, I'm gonna head on up and put her to sleep then."  
  
"Hey Beth?"  
  
"I know Daryl pretty well. And, he's …"  
  
I finished her sentence. "Complicated. Yeah, I know."  
  
"Just give him some time. I'm sure everything will work itself out. Just talk to him, alright. Tell him how ya feel. That's all ya can do now. Be honest and lay all your cards on the table."  
  
"Sure." I nodded and walked back upstairs with Judith. All I kept thinkin' to myself was … be honest? I was honest with him. What other cards do I have to lie on the table? He's the one who's not bein' honest with himself!  
 **  
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**  
  
I put Judith down for a nap, and finished up with my chores around the Cell Block. I had a few extra chores today, since Maggie wasn't feelin' too good. Glenn told me she'd been sick all mornin'. She said she didn't think she had eaten anything bad, but she wasn't sure. Could've been food or the flu; either way, she was out of commission today.  
  
As the afternoon turned to evening, I couldn't help but notice that I hadn't seen Daryl all day. The fact that I hadn't had a chance to talk to him yet was makin' me incredibly anxious. By that night, my stomach was literally doing somersaults inside my body. I kinda figured that maybe I was gettin' sick. Maybe I was gettin' whatever Maggie had. Overall, I just felt terrible.  
  
After I fed Judith and put her to bed, I contemplated whether or not I should even go out and see Daryl. He obviously didn't want anything to do with me. He made that pretty clear last night by ditching me after our kiss. I almost didn't go, but then I thought about what Carol said and how Daryl is a complicated guy … blah, blah, blah. Well, all that got to me I guess ... and I figured I'd suck it up, swallow my pride and go on out there and confront Daryl and see what the hell happened last night. I wanted to know … how the hell could he take such a beautiful perfect moment like our first kiss … and just ruin it.  
  
 _I really needed to know …why would he do somethin' like that?_  
  
So, I put on a brave face and headed outside. Walking towards the exit seemed like I was walking towards my executioner. I really loved this man; I knew it now more than ever. And, he had my heart in his hands. But after what happened last night, I thought there was a very good chance he was gonna stomp all over my heart - a very good chance.  
  
 _But, I had to at least put myself out there, tell him exactly how I feel and tell him … that I want to be with him … that I want him!_  
  
I slowly opened the door and walked out. I immediately scoured the yard and near the fence looking for Daryl's unmistakeable figure. I continued to walk towards the main tower and through the yard, when I heard footsteps behind and then someone or something grabbed my shoulder and pulled me around. I just about jumped outta my skin, before I could recognize his face.  
  
"Jesus! Daryl! You bout scared the livin' day lights outta me!"  
  
He quietly apologized. "Sorry." He took a drag of his cigarette; the hot smoke filled the air in front of him. "Didn't mean to scare ya."  
  
He was quiet for a moment and then he grabbed my hand.  
  
"So? No coffee tonight?"  
  
"Oh! No, sorry."  
  
"Guess I earned that."  
  
"No, I just …"  
  
Daryl interrupted me. "It's alright. Ya don't gotta explain."  
  
I suddenly felt incredibly nervous. I could feel my knees start to get weak, and there were those damn somersaults in my stomach again. I didn't know if I could go through with it and tell him how I felt about him. Heck, I wondered if I should've even come out here at all.  
  
 _Maybe he didn't even want to see me?_  
  
I struggled to get my words out. "Do … uh, do ya want me to leave?"  
  
He looked at me and smiled. "Nah, I don't want ya to leave."  
  
He took another drag of his cigarette. "Come here. I wanna talk to ya, if that's alright."  
  
Oh, here it was. The conversation I'd been dreading all day. I was about to find out what made him flip the switch last night and leave.  
  
"Sure." I quietly replied.  
  
He walked over to one of the side tables and motioned for me to sit next to him. I looked over at him; I could tell he was nervous. For such a brave man; he could be real awkward sometimes. Kinda one of the things I loved about him; he could be so strong, but so vulnerable. It was just too cute.  
  
"Bout last night." He paused and took another drag of his cigarette before throwing it to the ground and stomping it out with his boot.  
  
"Yeah?" I felt a wave of anger swell from within me; like a surge of emotional electricity.  
  
I glared at him and couldn't control what came out of my mouth next. "What about last night did ya want to talk about, Daryl? What a great time we had? Did ya wanna talk about that amazin' kiss?" I paused and quietly asked the final question. "Or, did ya wanna talk about … how ya acted like it didn't happen and just left me out here all alone? What exactly did ya wanna talk about?"  
  
 _Jesus! Where'd that gumption come from? I thought to myself._  
  
That was very unlike me to be so forward and so intense - very unlike me.  
  
I looked over at Daryl for his response and I could tell he was more than a little shocked by how bold my comments were.  
  
" _Jesus,_ Beth." He paused; it looked like he didn't know what to say.  
  
"Well?" I was mad. And, sad. But, I remained as calm as I could as I awaited his reply.  
  
"Like I said last night, ya know? The kiss?" He ran his hand through his hair. "That can't happen again, alright?"  
  
"And why's that?"  
  
He paused, considering his next words carefully.  
  
"Cause, Beth. It just ain't right."  
  
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Means just what I said. You're Hershel's daughter, Maggie's little sister and you're just too young. And, it jus ain't right."  
  
 _So, I'm too young. Great! I've been hearin' that an awful lot lately ... and it was really startin' to piss me off._  
  
He really hurt me, and I suppose I wanted him to hurt too.  
  
"Guess I'm too young to find happiness, or you're too old to realize what a good thing looks like when it's right in front of you!"  
  
He looked back at me. Looked like I did a good job of gettin' back at him; he looked hurt by my comment.  
  
" _Damn!_ Beth." He shook his head. "Well, that certainly didn't sound like a kid talkin'. Not one bit." His lips tightened into a bit of frown; he raised his eyebrows and looked over at me. "I gotta admit, Beth. That stung a bit."  
  
"Well, I'm sorry. I jus am gettin' real tired of hearin' what I should or shouldn't feel. Just cause of my age." I rolled my eyes and gave him a crooked smile. "I'm gettin' real tired, Daryl."  
  
"When ya get a little older, you'll understand."  
  
 _What an ass! He was really gettin' under my skin._  
  
"Whatever, Daryl. If that's what you wanna keep tellin' yourself."  
  
I wasn't going to argue with him about this anymore. But, I had to know why he felt so righteous in tellin' me that I was too young to know what I was talkin' bout; too young to know bout love, but he was the one actin' like a total and complete child last night.  
  
"Well then why the hell did ya just leave me out here after all that? That was pretty childish, don't ya think?"  
  
He just looked back at me, like I had two heads.  
  
Didn't see that comin', now did ya Daryl?  
  
I got serious with him. "That hurt me, Daryl."  
  
"I'm sorry bout that. I didn't want to hurt ya. That's not what I was tryin' to do."  
  
"Well, then what the heck happened?"  
  
He scratched the back of his head and replied. "It's jus that I saw Michonne comin' out. And, I didn't want anyone gettin' the wrong idea bout us."  
  
"You were afraid of Michonne?"  
  
He laughed. "No, I wasn't afraid of her. I jus didn't want her to see us kissin' or anythin' like that."  
  
"And, did she?"  
  
"Did she what?  
  
"Did she see us kiss?"  
  
I have to admit, I was a little nervous about everyone in the group finding out about the kiss too. Nervous how they'd react to it, especially, if nothin' was gonna happen between me and Daryl. Didn't want to make it awkward with everyone knowin'.  
  
"Dunno." He paused and looked out. "She didn't say nothin' bout it, but that don't mean shit."  
  
I bit my bottom lip and shrugged my shoulders. "Well, you _really_ hurt my feelings, Daryl. I don't know what else to say."  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
We sat there in silence for a moment. Finally, I quietly asked him a question. "So, ya didn't want her to see us kiss. So, does that mean you totally regret kissin' me?"  
  
"Didn't say that."  
  
"So, ya don't regret it?"  
  
He paused. "Nah, I don't regret it."  
  
He smiled and looked deeply into my eyes. I just wanted to melt right then and there.  
  
"So, ya don't regret it?"  
  
"No. But, that don't mean we can do it again. Doesn't mean nothin'. Alright?"  
  
"So, that's it then?" I shook my head.  
  
He didn't answer he just looked down at the ground and started to bite the skin around his thumb.  
  
"So, ya don't feel nothin' for me? Nothin' at all, Daryl?"  
  
He exhaled deeply, and continued to avoid answering the question. So, I told him what I'd been feelin' for a while now.  
  
"Cause I feel somethin' for you."  
  
I started to feel the tears as they filled my eyes.  
  
"Beth, you're killin' me."  
  
"What? Do you want to be just friends, or somethin'?" I whimpered.  
  
"I don't know what I want. I jus know that we can't … do _this._ " He pointed to the two of us and looked away.  
  
I grabbed his bicep and pulled him so he was facing me more now. His eyes darted around until finally meeting mine. I let go of his bicep, sliding my hand down his arm until I felt his hand. He had it resting on his thigh; I gently put my small hand on top of his ... intertwining my fingers in his.  
  
"Well, I don't know if ya care … " I paused and squeezed his hand a bit. "But, I wanna be more than just friends, Daryl. I … I felt somethin' with you last night."  
  
I searched his eyes to see if I could get a sense of what he was feeling. And, all I could see was that he was ... nervous. Daryl was totally nervous; maybe anxious would be a better word, I dunno. What I did know was that he was obviously uncomfortable talkin' bout this stuff with me. I just didn't know what to make if it all.  
  
I continued. "I felt somethin' with you … that I never felt before."  
  
Daryl moved his hand from out from under mine and crossed his arms. "Well, like ya said … ya only ever kissed one guy. So …"  
  
 _God, Daryl …that really hurt!_  
  
"That's not the point! I don't need to have kissed a thousand guys to know … that there was more in that kiss than … just a kiss."  
  
"Doesn't matter if there was or there wasn't somethin' more. We jus can't take this any further." He shook his head. "It already went too far."  
  
I exhaled. "Huh ...?"  
  
 _I was hurt and feeling quite numb in that moment. Almost at a loss for words ... almost ..._  
  
I nodded my head in agreement. "Yeah, it went too far a while ago, Daryl ... way before the kiss, don't ya think?"  
  
"Maybe …" He replied quietly.  
  
"So, that's it then?"  
  
"Yep ... guess so."  
  
I could feel my face start to scrunch up; a frown crept up on my face. Tears leaked from my eyes; like warm streams down each of my cheeks.  
  
"Beth, come here."  
  
He reached for my hand to comfort me, but I pulled it away before he could grab it.  
  
And, I stood up and wiped the tears from my cheeks.  
  
"Alright …"  
  
I turned to walk away, but I had one more thing I needed to hear from him.  
  
"Daryl?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
 _I could see he looked upset too; he didn't want to be tellin' me these things … so, why was he?_  
  
"If this is gonna be it between me and you. I need to ask ya somethin'." I paused and tried to muster the last bit of courage I had. "If I ask ya a question … will ya promise to answer it? And, be completely honest me?"  
  
He quietly responded. "Yeah." He paused. "Sure."  
  
"Did ya ... feel somethin' for me too?"  
  
"I don't think that's gonna help matters here, do ya Beth?"  
  
"You promised! Just … answer the question, Daryl."  
  
"Come here." He motioned for me to come closer.  
  
I looked down at him lovingly. Tears slipped down my cheek. He reached for my hand, but this time I didn't pull away. He held on to my hand; using his thumb to trace nervous circles on the top of my hand.  
  
He glanced up at me slowly and exhaled deeply.  
  
"Yeah, I felt somethin' too. Okay."  
  
I could feel hope just beaming from my eyes.  
  
"But, don't go gettin' carried away. It doesn't mean that … you and I …" He paused. "Ya know? Can be anythin' more."  
  
I could literally feel a pain in my chest, my stomach was sick.  
  
He exhaled deeply. "Ahh … Jesus, Beth! Jus cause we might have feelin's for each other … doesn't mean we get to act on them. It's not how things work."  
  
"How can you say that?"  
  
The tears were flowing freely now.  
  
"I'm sorry, Beth."  
  
I couldn't take listening to this anymore. He was breaking my heart and I felt like screaming at the top of my lungs.  
  
I felt myself start to panic.  
  
"I … I gotta go."  
  
I started to run back towards the prison.  
  
"Beth! Wait! Come …"  
  
I couldn't hear the last word he said; all I could hear was the sound of my heart pounding.  
  
I reached for the door and ran inside.  
  
 _You broke my heart Daryl Dixon ..._  
 **  
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**  
 **  
Daryl's POV –**  
  
"Damnit! Beth …"  
  
I watched as Beth slammed the door to the prison - she jus went an ran off on me.  
 _  
Shit! I tried to explain to her the best I could . Guess I totally fucked it up. Typical.  
  
The girl literally ran away from me!I mean, I guess we were done talkin' in all, but ... damn!_  
  
I stood there in the dark, in the silence for a while. I lit another cigarette to calm my nerves. They'd been shot and I felt fuckin' horrible. The smoke burned a little, but I could almost immediately feel the relief of the nicotine from this old pack of smokes. I tried to blow a couple of rings with the smoke; trying unsuccessfully to get Beth and our conversation outta my head.  
  
 _Damn! What a fuckin' mess I had made. I let this whole thing go on too long. I didn't wanna hurt her; I cared more about her than anyone ... that was the last thing I wanted to do..._  
  
I mean, I knew she was gonna be upset when I told her that this whole thing had to stop. Hell, I was upset too. To be honest, I didn't want to end it ... I wanted to keep seein' her ... I loved seein' her. And, that kiss ... well, I definitely didn't want that to be the last one ... but, it had to be.  
  
I guess I didn't realize this was all gonna end up hurtin' so much. I didn't think it was gonna get so _intense._  
  
Hell, I don't know what I was thinkin'. Only thing I knew ... I was sure I was doin' the right thing.  
  
We couldn't keep carryin' on like this. I could only imagine the 'sit down' that Rick would give me, if I let things with Beth continue. Or, what Maggie would say about me tryin' to put the moves on her little sister. An Hershel? Hell … he has a hard time killin' walkers, but I have a feelin' he might have an easier time killin' me if he ever found out.  
  
I couldn't let that happen; let the group suffer cause I wanted to play house with Beth. I wouldn't risk everythin' that we were tryin' to build here.  
  
 _I couldn't. Not for my own selfish reasons._  
  
I mean, I liked Beth … a lot. And, damned if I didn't want to keep seein' her like that – cause I did. I'd grown very close with Beth and felt like she really understood me.  
  
But, after all this, after tonight … I could feel the anxiety building inside me ... and I feared we might never be the same. I really hoped that wasn't the case. It'd break my heart if I couldn't be with her in some way; at least as friends. She was so special ... and I just wanted to be near her in any way that I could …  
  
 _Damn! I hated to see her cry._ _To know I was to blame for it._  
  
I hated myself for makin' her feel anythin' but good. I really did wish there was another way, but I sure as hell couldn't see one.  
  
But, she'd thank me for it later on. She's young; she doesn't know what she really wants. And, neither of us can afford a failed attempt at a relationship when the stakes are this high …when we all got jobs to do … when we got so many people countin' on us.  
  
I just hoped that she would understand one day. That she'd forgive me, and at least let me be close to her again. Might take some time, but I still wanted her in my life … so I'd give her space to get over me. And, give myself some space to get her outta my head.  
  
Then … things can go back to normal. Back to takin' care of business here at the prison. That was my job … and I took it seriously. I had accepted it – I hoped she would too.  
 **  
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**  
  
After my night shift, I slept for like five hours and then headed downstairs for 'breakfast.' Instead of our usual conversations, I caught what looked like a disapproving stare from Carol. I called over to her to see what the hell was up with her, but before she made it to the table Rick ran into the Cell Block and said he needed me right away.  
  
Like I had said, I had responsibilities here. They never seemed to end.  
  
I ran after Rick and followed him outside into the yard. I could hear Karen and a few other people yellin'. I looked over and I could see part of the fencing was gettin' pushed in by a herd of walkers that had accumulated in one spot.  
 _  
The hell? They never do that!_  
  
I ran over and immediately started killin' walkers. Once we'd killed off a bunch of them, Rick had us shoring up the fence the rest of the day. Before I knew it, the sun was startin' to set.  
  
"Go ahead and head inside and rest for a bit, Daryl. I know you got night watch again tonight."  
  
"Thanks." I nodded, slung my crossbow over my shoulders and walked back to the prison. As soon as I hit the cot in my cell, I crashed.  
  
Must've been out for an hour or so, when Glenn woke me up.  
  
"Come on, Daryl. Time to get up!"  
  
Glenn tapped his knife along the bars of my cell.  
  
"Alright, alright. I'm up."  
  
I slowly got up, splashed some water on my face, grabbed my crossbow and headed back out for night watch … again.  
  
Glenn, Tyrese and I had watch and it was business as usual. However, the hour came when … I would normally see Beth walkin' out those prison doors. I could feel a pain in my chest at the thought of it. I rubbed the area over my heart.  
  
 _Damn! What the hell?_  
  
All that emotional shit … all that talkin' was literally causin' me to have chest pains. Good thing I ended things with Beth; that girl mighta given me a heart attack!  
  
Time seemed to crawl to a stand still. The night dragged on and on. I thought maybe it was gettin' close to 2:00am … maybe even 2:30am. I checked my watch and it read 11:45pm!  
  
 _This was gonna be a long night, I could tell …_  
  
I couldn't stop thinkin' bout Beth. Thinkin' bout how I made her cry. I started to replay the conversation over and over again in my mind. Wonderin' if I'd done the right thing. I kept tryin' to reassure myself, but as the time passed and every minute that Beth wasn't out here with me like she usually was … the more I realized just how much I was gonna miss her visits. I realized just how much I was gonna miss her …  
  
Then, something unexpected happened. I was looking out watching the fence near the main tower … and I heard it … the sound of the prison door!  
  
My heart jumped at the sound. I was nervous as all hell, but happy that Beth had decided to come out to see me even though things last night … went the way they did.  
  
 _I hadn't lost my Bethy._  
  
I couldn't really make out her face yet, since she was so far. But, as she got closer, I realized it wasn't Beth at all … it was Carol.  
  
"Hey there, stranger!" Carol called out.  
  
"Oh?! Hey, Carol." I paused. "I thought you were Beth comin' out here."  
  
"Nope. It's just me."  
  
"Oh."  
  
She walked over to me and pushed me in the shoulder.  
  
 _"The hell, Carol?_ What's that for?"  
  
"You know …"  
  
"No, I don't. Care to enlighten me?"  
  
"I talked to Beth this morning. She was real upset." Carol paused and put her hands on her hips. "She didn't say anythin', but I was thinkin' you might know why she was so upset."  
  
"Why's that Carol?"  
  
"Cause … I know how close you two are."  
  
"Mmm, hmm." I mumbled.  
  
"So, ya know anythin' about that?"  
  
"Lay off, Carol. I did what needed to be done."  
  
"And, what's that?"  
  
"I told her the truth."  
  
"Ya did, did you?"  
  
"Yes, I did." I paused trying to justify my actions. "I didn't do nothin' that didn't need to be done. That's all."  
  
 _Carol was really layin' into me, which was really not like her. She never nagged me like this. Made me wanna run for the hills._  
  
"And, what's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Means, it ain't none of your damn business, Carol."  
  
"Really? You're gonna be like that?"  
  
"Yeah. It's gonna be like that."  
  
I lit up the last smoke in my pack; I'd torn through this one.  
  
"Ya know Daryl? You're one stubborn son-of-a-bitch sometimes."  
  
I just took a drag of my cigarette and walked over to the metal picnic table near the tower and sat down; leaning my back up against the table top.  
  
"Yeah. That's what I've been told."  
  
She stood in front of me; her arms crossed now.  
  
 _Damn, she looked pissed off._  
  
"Ya know, I can't believe you would go and do anything to ruin what ya got with Beth."  
  
I sat up straight and looked up at Carol and took a drag of my smoke.  
  
"What'd ya mean? Ruin what I got with Beth?"  
  
"Ya think I don't see you two. The way you look at each other."  
  
"Oh, come on Carol. Now you're jus givin' me a hard time. Girl's gotta be half my age. Ain't nothin' goin' on with me and Beth. We're jus friends."  
  
"Bullshit! Daryl, you're either lyin' to me.  Or, you're lyin' to yourself!"  
  
Carol plopped down very ungracefully beside me. She huffed and puffed while she seemed to be deep in thought. She reached her hand over; gesturing for the cigarette.  
  
"Can I?"  
  
"Ya don't smoke."  
  
"Well, I feel like it now. May I?"  
  
I handed her the cigarette and she took a drag and exhaled and blew a few rings of smoke.  
  
"Damn, Carol. Thought ya didn't smoke."  
  
"I don't. But, I used to." She shook her head. "It was a long time ago. Another life."  
  
"Uh, huh …"  
  
We laughed and the tension seemed to fade a bit between us. I didn't want another one of the people that meant the world to me to be angry with me too. That would just be too much.  
  
We sat there in silence for a while.  
  
"You know, when ya walked out here, I thought ya were Beth. Comin' out with coffee like she always does."  
  
Carol looked over at me; she gave me these soulful eyes. It's like she just 'knew.' She knew what had happened, she knew what I'd done and I think she understood why. I could tell she didn't like it, but she understood.  
  
"I know she really likes ya Daryl. She really does."  
  
"I know she does."  
  
"She's a good girl, and I don't want ya breakin' her heart."  
  
"It ain't like that, Carol." I gave Carol a smirk. "Not that it's any of yer business anyways."  
  
"Ain't like that, huh?" Carol turned to face me. "Who do ya think you're foolin' anyways? I see how she looks at you.  And, more importantly, I see how ya look at her. I know you've got feelings for her." She paused and smiled. "The others may not have noticed, but I'm not blind. It's plain as day to me."  
  
"You're off your rocker, Carol. Ain't nothin' goin' on between me and Beth."  
  
Then she said somethin' that totally caught me off guard.  
  
"And why the hell not?  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Ya heard me. Why … the hell … not?"  
  
"I'm not gonna get into this, alright? I jus did this last night with Beth."  
  
"A ha! So, ya did talk to Beth last night bout the two of you. That's what I thought." She paused. Carol seemed pretty pleased with herself. "Come on, tell me why the two of you can't be together. Go ahead. This should be good."  
  
She smiled; egging me on.  
  
"Alright! Alright ..." I took one last drag of my cigarette and tossed it far off on the pavement.  
"Damn, your persistent!"  
  
I shook my head. "Fine. I'll tell ya why." I paused. "Well, for one. She's a just a kid, for God's sake."  
  
Carol cupped her hand to her mouth to control her laughter.  
  
"Really, Daryl? A kid? She's almost 19 years old. She's a young woman now. You may think she's still a kid, but no one else around here does." She continued to laugh and she nudged me in the shoulder. "And, I think deep down ya know that too. _Hmm?_ "  
  
"Alright. Well, she's Hershel's daughter. You can't tell me he would like it very much if I was runnin' around with Beth. Hell, he'd probably pull a shotgun out on me or somethin'."  
  
I laughed at the thought of it. Gettin' a gun pulled on me for messin' with the farmer's daughter. A total cliche, if I ever heard one.  
  
I crossed my arms and tried to drive home my point. "Not that he would need to, cause there ain't nothin' goin' on."  
  
"Daryl, you can't be serious? Hershel loves you." She paused and looked deep into my eyes. And, with complete sincerity she continued. "You. Well, you are at the very core of this group. And, I think you're wrong about Hershel. I think he'd be happy for the two of you. He couldn't ask for a more capable and loyal man for his daughter, that's for sure."  
  
I mocked her; she knew better than to resort to flattery.  
  
"Jesus. You're makin' blush over here."  
  
"Are you bein' sarcastic, Pookie?" She paused. "Cause I wasn't. It's true. Every word of it."  
  
"Well, I still don't think everyone here at the group would be happy bout it. Rick would disapprove, probably others too." I scratched the back of my head. "I don't even know why I'm even talkin' bout this with ya. Nothin' is goin' on, so there ain't nothin' to talk about."  
  
 _Or, at least that's what I was tellin' myself._  
  
"Well, that's a damn shame, Daryl."  
  
She had my attention. I was curious what other words of wisdom, my little Yoda had for me.  
  
"An, why's that?"  
  
"Because … Beth is a real sweet girl. And, you're a good guy, Daryl. You two deserve each other. You both deserve to be happy."  
  
"Thanks for the advice, but it ain't gonna happen."  
  
"Well, if you're gonna pass up on Beth. Pass up on a chance at love - you're a damn fool, Daryl Dixon."  
  
Carol stood up and brushed off the back of her pants. She continued, but the tone of her voice was different. More passive and less angry. More caring than accusative.  
  
"Pass this up. And, you may never get another chance like this. Think about that, Daryl. Think about what you really want. What would make you really happy. And, and go for it. We'd all support you. We'd all be happy for ya. The both of you."  
  
She seemed real sincere. She genuinely didn't see anythin' wrong with me and Beth bein' somethin' more; being together. And, the way she made it sound, she sounded so sure the others would be supportive too.  
  
"We really would, Daryl. I'm your friend, aren't I?"  
  
"Yeah, you are."  
  
"I don't want to see ya fuck a good thing up." She laughed, but she was bein' serious.  
  
 _I just stared back. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe the others wouldn't disapprove as much as I thought they would. Maybe … Beth and I could give this a shot?_  
  
Carol continued; she seemed to be able to read my mind sometimes.  
  
"You two could work. Not just work, but be great together. I know you must see that." She paused. "I see it. I know ya care about her. Ya care about her a lot. Don't give up on happiness because you think someone ... somewhere might disapprove. They won't. But, even if they did, don't ya want to be happy?"  
  
I started to chew the skin around my finger. Carol had me all twisted inside. "Of course, I do."  
  
"Then, why would you push away the one thing that could give you a real life here ... a real shot at happiness?"  
  
 _I guess she had a point …_  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"Not maybe, Daryl." She paused and the tone of her voice changed; she was serious. "Don't wait on this. We don't know what tomorrow will bring. Whatever happened between you and Beth. Fix it. Fix it now."  
  
"Alright, Carol. I'll talk to her. _Damn._ "  
  
She nodded and smiled. "There's my Pookie. All tough on the outside and all gooey on the inside."  
  
We both smiled and laughed.  
  
"Shut up ..."  
  
"I just couldn't stand by and watch my best friend ruin … probably the best thing that has ever happened to him. She's good for you. You're good for her." She paused and waved a finger at me. "You get her back, and you don't ever let go." She crossed her arms over her chest. "And, damned anyone or anything that stands in your way, ya hear?" She smiled warmly.  
  
"Yeah, I do. I hear ya."  
  
Then, she reached down and gave me a hug, which she never really did. Then, she started to walk back towards the prison.

"Hey Carol?"  
  
She turned around. "Yeah?"  
  
"Thanks. Ya know, for talkin' some sense into me."  
  
"I know. That's what friends are for. Tellin ya when you're bein' a total ass."  
  
"Ha! Thanks a lot!" I shook my head.

That woman; she was crazy, but smart as hell.

Carol waved goodbye and started walkin' again back towards the prison. "No problem, Pookie."  
  
"Carol!" I yelled out to her.  
  
She stopped in her tracks, and swiveled around to face me again. "Yes, Daryl? Somethin' else?"  
  
"If ya see Beth tomorrow mornin' before I get up. Mind tellin' her I'm lookin' for her?"  
  
Carol nodded yes. "I will."  
  
"I think I might. Umm. Take you're advice. And, stop bein' such a stubborn ass. I'll make it right."  
  
"Glad to hear it, Daryl. Glad to hear it." She paused. "Hey Daryl! Beth was pretty upset this mornin' and she wasn't feelin' too good tonight either. So, take it easy on her. Be nice. And, remember … ya might need to do a little grovelin' to make this up to her."  
  
I shook my head.

_Jesus, Carol._

I could tell she was never gonna let me live this down, but I was glad she was such a good friend and took the time to get me to see 'the light,' as they say.  
  
She threw her hands in the air. "I'm just sayin'." She had a huge smile on her face and started to laugh and walked back inside.  
  
"Women!" I mumbled to myself.  
  
The rest of the night flew by, and I couldn't wait to talk to Beth. I didn't know what the hell I was gonna say, but I needed to let her know how I felt. I felt everythin' she did, and she needed to hear me say it. I wasn't any good at this kinda stuff. Talkin' bout feelin's wasn't somethin' I was really used to. Suppose I was gonna need to work on that.

Now, I wasn't sure if she was gonna forgive me for actin' the way I did, but I spent the rest of the night and early morning thinkin' of what I was gonna say and what I could do to make it up to her. What I could do to fix this, and get her to give me another chance.  
 **  
END CHAPTER TEN**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Daryl can be so stubborn and thankfully he has started to see the errors of his ways ... yeah!! :)) Now he just needs to hurry up and tell that girl how he feels, am I right?
> 
> Daryl and Beth are FINALLY on their way to being a couple; happiness is on the horizon for them. However, I must warn you all ... It's just a little out of their reach still. There are a couple of small bumps in the road that threaten to stand in their way.
> 
> So, let me know what you think; like it, love it, hate it ... let me know your thoughts. And, If you've got a moment, please leave me a comment on your way out ... I'd love to hear from you all :-D
> 
> ** I've got Chapter Eleven started ... So, as soon as this chapter gets 5 comments - I'll get the next chapter up! 
> 
> I know, I know ... I'm a sucker for comments and reviews. But, every time I see a new comment ... it literally puts a smile on my face (swear). Plus, they keep me motivated and inspired to keep working on the story, so I'm hoping to hear from all of you out there reading this story :))
> 
> Here's a Teaser Chapter Eleven: So, now that Daryl is FINALLY coming to terms with his feelings and is considering giving it a shot with Beth, he's ready to talk to Beth and tell her how he feels. But, he gets stuck again during the day and doesn't get a chance to talk to her. That night, he expects to see Beth walk out with her coffee, but she never shows ... Daryl worries all night wondering why she didn't come out to see him. But, when he goes in from watch that morning and runs to her room - he finds it is empty. She's nowhere to be found. Where or where has little Beth gone? You'll have to wait until Chapter Eleven is posted to find that a familiar threat has found its way into the prison ... (insert evil laugh here).
> 
> P.S. Now that they have both realized how they feel for each other, they're gonna have to fight for it. Fight for each other. It'll just make them stronger in the end - promise :))
> 
> Looking forward to hearing from you!
> 
> xoxo,  
> Dahlia


End file.
